The New World
by Cloudshika
Summary: A new world has been created thanks to Cheza and Kiba. But it's not what they exactly wanted. Tsume wakes up in the new world confused. Why is he the only one that remembers? Rated T for minor language. R&R if you so please.
1. Chapter 1

Tsume felt stiff all over. He felt cold too, like his blood had stopped moving or something. Rubbing his arms he found that his right side hurt horribly, but the pain receded after a few moments. Tsume looked around groggily trying to take in where he was. He had no idea how he had gotten here or why he was here. He couldn't remember anything. Tsume was in some sort of warehouse, it reminded him a bit of a place he used to go…why he would go to a place like this Tsume had no idea. He growled and held his head; man did he have the worst of migraines.

A loud bang from a delivery car didn't help. His wolf instincts told him to hide, so much to his body's complaint, Tsume jumped out of sight from the men. They were all talking so loud about pointless things, Tsume wished they would just shut up and let him sleep.

"I swear I saw one, a real wolf." One man was saying Tsume perked up at this.

"You're crazy, Murray, wolfs don't exist. You probably just saw a large dog." Another man scoffed.

Murray frowned, "A dog wouldn't be that large, or savage. I ran after it-"

"You ran after it? Didn't you just say wolves are savage?" The other man laughed, "Geez, Murray, you're such an idiot!"

"Shut up, Bill!" Murray said defensively, "Anyway, I followed the wolf, but when I turned the corner all I saw was this teenage kid. I asked him about the wolf. He said the same thing as you."

"That it was a large dog?" Bill asked, "Well, it was."

The men walked off and Tsume emerged now completely awake. Where was he? Silently he ventured out of the warehouse. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but what he saw wasn't it. Tsume was in a large city dome. The city was run down, but there were tons of people. By the looks of the warehouse there was plenty of food to go around. There were other wolves here? Tsume leaned against the doorways, why couldn't he remember anything? Something was nagging at him, saying things like, "I know I need to do something?" "I know I forgot _something_!", but no matter how much Tsume thought, he just couldn't recall what he needed to remember.

"Hey, what're you doing here? Only employees are allowed around the warehouses!" The old man Murray shouted at him.

Tsume looked at him then walked off, they weren't worth his time. The other man, Bill, though called after him, "Wait, are you the man that left his motorcycle over there?"

Tsume looked over at the motorcycle, it wasn't exactly the greatest, but…it would be faster to ride around on that. The men obviously didn't want it.

"Yeah." Was all that Tsume said and he jumped onto the motorcycle. The idiot who owned it had left the keys in the ignition.

Tsume took off down the street. He couldn't get that nagging feeling out of his brain though. It still kept saying, "You've forgotten something Tsume, you just have to try and think harder."

"I _am_ thinking…" Tsume snarled and took off at a faster speed. Why couldn't he remember showing up to this city? Or what he had done before he ended up in that warehouse? Had he been attacked? Perhaps the other wolves in the city weren't friendly. Tsume stopped at a red light and sat back on the cycle. He sighed and looked over at the sidewalk where a teenage boy was walking alone. The boy had shoulder-length black hair and he had on black clothes. Tsume noticed something different about him and looked harder. He gasped, that boy was a wolf, a white wolf! A car honked and Tsume realized the light was green. Thinking harder than ever Tsume took off on the motorcycle. He _knew _that wolf, he didn't know how, but he _knew _him. About a block later Tsume decided to ditch the motorcycle. He had to go and find that wolf. He screeched to a halt and successfully managed to flip himself off the bike. People gasped as he landed on the concrete.

"Ow…" He growled and got up; people stared at him amazed, one guy even clapped. Tsume glared at the clapper and left the bike wrecked at the side of the road, "Here's the key, it's a gift."

Tsume clapped the keys into someone's hands. The person stared at him bewildered, probably because he had just gotten some random keys and the man who gave him the keys had a hand that felt like a dogs paw. Tsume didn't care though he was just thinking about the white wolf. He had seen him before, as he was thinking a couple of memories flew through his head. Tsume couldn't make sense of them. He was fighting the white wolf, and then he was traveling with the wolf. By what he could remember they had been friends, perhaps. Tsume clutched his head again, "Damn migraine!"

He sat down and just kept his head in his hands trying to put together his shattered memory. Small hazy pictures were showing up, but he couldn't put names to any of the people and wolves he saw. He saw a small brown wolf with strange bracelets and another tan wolf that had a collar. The small one seemed to have always followed him around, he felt that he had really liked this wolf, but then why couldn't he put a name to the image? Tsume pieced everything together piece by piece, his entire journey with these wolfs. The humans and other hostile wolves, the strange flower maiden, he remembered them all. He saw the faces and the names were on the tip of his tongue. Finally Tsume remembered everything. His migraine vanished.

"Oh god, _this_ is paradise." Tsume looked about him and snorted, "Dammit, Kiba, this is pathetic."

He got up and started down the sidewalk. However long it took he would find Kiba. He just hoped it hadn't been too long for him to show up here. Kiba was probably searching for Cheza and the others as Tsume ran towards him. By evening Tsume saw Kiba turn a corner into an alleyway. Relieved he followed the teenager and grabbed his shoulder. Kiba turned around defensivly and looked at Tsume through narrowed eyes.

"Geez, I've been looking for you all day. What have you been doing? And why did you create _this_ sort of paradise. It's really pathetic. We're still hated after all." Tsume noticed that Kiba still was glaring at him, Tsume frowned, "What're you glaring at, Kiba?"

"How do you know me?" Kiba growled taking a step back, "I've never met you before, I've never seen another wolf in this city before."

Tsume stared at him shocked, "You don't remember? Come on really try and remember, I told you I'd meet you in paradise before you ran off and killed Darcia…you did kill him right?"

Kiba shook his head, "What are you talking about, perhaps you shouldn't live in the city. I think the air has driven you crazy, now if you excuse me I'm looking for someone."

Tsume let go of Kiba's shoulder and the wolf ran off leaving Tsume standing there dumbly. Was it possible that he was the only one to remember?


	2. Chapter 2

It was weird, being all alone. Tsume just wasn't used to it. Usually he enjoyed it, being all alone with no one bothering him, it was nice. Now it just seemed lonely. He missed his pack, though he would never admit it to them. Now, as Tsume sat atop a roof, he thought of how he had so hated being with those wolves and now all he wanted was to be with them.

"Geez, I'm really screwed up." Tsume snarled to himself and lay down staring at the top of the dome.

He started dozing off and was almost asleep when he was woken up by a pitiful mewling from the alley way below him. A bit annoyed Tsume looked down to find the cat. He saw the cat, a pitiful little kitten; usually he would have just growled and left the thing alone. Except this time, the kitten was being picked up by a boy. A boy Tsume had seen before and had promised to meet in Paradise.

"Toboe…" Tsume said, and then realizing the boy probably couldn't hear him he shouted, "TOBOE!"

Toboe jumped and looked around obviously freaked out. He held the kitten tight against his chest and ran. Tsume jumped off the roof and took off after him, but Toboe was quick when he was frightened. Luckily, the kid was as stupid as ever and was easy to follow. Tsume caught his scent in a house that smelled strongly of humans. He spat, "He would hide out with those humans."

Still, Tsume waited in the alley till Toboe crept out of the house, he no longer had the kitten. Tsume just looked at Toboe and the kid froze. He had to admit, the kid's reaction hurt.

"Hey, kid, where'd that kitten go?" Tsume asked coolly trying not to frighten Toboe.

"L-leave me alone, I don't want to fight! I'm sorry if I'm in your territory or something I-"

Tsume cut off the kids babble, "Fight? Are you kidding me? It's me, Tsume; don't you remember me at all Runt?"

The word 'runt' got Toboe to stop shaking and he stared at Tsume, "I'm not _that_ small!"

Tsume sighed, "So you remember me? Perhaps it's just Kiba who doesn't remember then!" At that moment Tsume didn't care if Kiba remembered or not, if Toboe remembered that might be enough for him. His hope was quickly crushed though.

"Nope, never seen you before in my life…in fact, I've never seen any other wolves before. Are there a lot of you around?" Toboe asked his eyes bright with interest.

"I'm sure there are one or two more wolves around here…" Tsume shrugged, "But…you really don't remember me?"

Toboe seemed to think for a moment then shook his head, "No, I really have no idea who you are."

"Toboe!" A shaky old voice called from down the way, "Toboe, you little rascal where have you gone this time?"

Toboe yelped and dropped the illusion of a boy. He ran away from Tsume towards a little old lady. Tsume could tell that it was Toboe's Granny who he had accidently killed in the other world. Even if he had forgotten him, Tsume felt a bit of happiness for the kid, he had gotten his paradise at least. Without another word Tsume leapt up to the roof. Though, he couldn't leave the kid, Tsume just couldn't give up that he might remember. So Tsume sat down on a roof by the runt's home and waited. He saw Toboe go in and out of the home every so often, but the kid never looked up. In fact, Toboe didn't seem at all to care about the wolf he had met.

Actually, Toboe did care about the wolf he had met, just not as much as Tsume would've liked. He was bothered by the wolf and wanted to know more about him, but he didn't want to run off from his granny. After all, the wolf would probably just make fun of him now. Toboe eventually just shrugged it off and tried to forget the gray wolf with the strange scar. He curled up by the fire and was content to let granny pet him. Toboe was content the way his life was. He didn't need to get involved with some wolves in the city.

"Hey…._Hey_…._HEY_" A voice yelled and Tsume nearly fell off the roof as he woke. He bristled and stared around for the voice.

"Sorry, I just thought it'd be a bit safer for you if you weren't sleeping on the edge of a roof." Tsume jumped around to see another wolf, this one was tan and a bit fatter than Tsume.

Tsume nodded his head, "Thanks, Hige."

Hige's ears perked up, "You know me?"

Tsume sighed, he had forgotten, he was the only one that remembered, "Uh, yeah, I heard of you…from another wolf."

"Was it a female wolf? 'Cause I would love to meet her!" Hige asked his eye's bright with hope.

"Yeah, yeah it was a female wolf." Tsume said, he didn't want to let him down after all.

"Ooh, really? What did she look like?" Hige asked, "I should go see her!"

"Black, with bright blue eyes," Tsume described Blue unconsciously and saw Hige look even more excited.

"Great! Thanks!" He ran off without another word.

"Geez, that wolf is hopelessly girl crazy." Tsume sighed and looked down, Toboe was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, uh, wolf…" Hige reappeared causing Tsume to jump again and snarl. Hige flinched, "Really sorry, but where did you see this wolf?"

"I don't remember. On some mountain last I checked." Tsume shrugged speaking truthfully.

This threw Hige off, "On a mountain…well, then she might not even be in this city."

"Maybe…maybe not," Tsume said looking at Hige who looked extremely disappointed. "I'm sure you'll find her. She's hard to miss."

Hige sighed and sat down, "Yeah, but somehow I _always_ miss the good looking girls."

Tsume laughed making Hige growl, "What's so funny?"

"You."

Hige snarled again and walked off probably looking for Blue again. Tsume frowned; everyone was looking for those they had cared about the most. Hige for Blue, and Kiba was probably looking for Cheza seeing as he had said 'I'm looking for someone'. That just left Tsume and Toboe. Tsume had already found who he was looking for, but Toboe didn't remember him and the kid seemed content to live in his paradise. Once again, Tsume was at a loss, he had nowhere to turn to. He would just have to go back to living the way he had before he met the pack. Alone, he didn't need friends, especially not friends that forgot him.

Toboe was dozing by the fire when he heard clanging in the kitchen. His ears perked up and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. It was dinnertime! He stood up and wagged his tail excitedly as his Granny appeared with the food.

"Here you go Toboe, no, no, don't jump!" But Toboe had already knocked over his Granny happily wagging his tail. He didn't know what he had done. Not till afterwards when his Granny couldn't get up. She just stayed on the floor and didn't move. Toboe whined a little bit and licked her hand. Why wouldn't she get up? Something in his brain told him 'you've done it again, you stupid runt, now what kind of life are you going to live'. Toboe shook his head.

"I've done it again…oh god…why…I-I didn't mean too." Toboe whined, "Granny, get up, I'm sorry I won't jump anymore!"

But no matter what Toboe said, his Granny would never get up again. In his happiness he had killed her. Toboe's head hurt, why did it feel like he had done something over again. Sure, he had jumped on Granny before, but she had never fallen over. She had always just laughed and pushed him off of her. He couldn't remember, he wasn't remembering something. The gray wolf popped into his head, 'Don't you remember me?'

"No, no, no!" Toboe whimpered and lay by his granny unsure of what to do.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been about a year since this new world formed, Tsume lived alone once more. He liked to try and fool himself he was happy, but he was far from it. Tsume was worried and depressed. Blue and Hige had found each other from what Tsume could see. They would walk by the uninhabited building that Tsume now lived in. Kiba would also appear every so often, but Tsume wouldn't show himself to any of them. He knew they were fine; he was only worried about finding Toboe. A couple of months ago he had ventured into the house to try and talk to the runt. Except, the runt hadn't been in the house, no one was there. This had worried Tsume because he could smell death, and he knew that the runt had once again been left without his granny. Ever since then Toboe had disappeared and Tsume hadn't been able to locate him. After he had found out about Toboe's disappearance he had gone and talked to everyone he could find, except his old pack members, asking them if they had seen the kid. The answer was always the same, 'no'.

Tsume had given up, he couldn't find the kid, when he wanted to hide that kid could hide. It worried him still that the Runt was out there somewhere fending for himself. He probably didn't even know how to fend for himself yet. Tsume sighed and looked out the window, he saw Kiba lazily walking by, but there was a slight difference in the air about him. Something a bit more depressed. Tsume let it slide; he wouldn't worry about Kiba if Kiba wasn't worrying about him. Still, Tsume found himself watching the white wolf hang his head and walk. His tail was dragging through the dust, and Tsume thought he heard him whimper.

"Oh, geez, why can't I just get over it," Tsume cursed himself and jumped down to where Kiba was. The wolf jumped and narrowed his eyes again, just like when they had met. He stared at Tsume suspiciously.

"Do you remember?" Kiba growled, "Do you remember Paradise?"

Tsume was taken aback by the question, "Paradise? I thought this _was_ Paradise."

Kiba sighed and shook his head; he walked on, "How am I going to find it. Dead….dead…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsume shouted annoyed by the wolf, "I thought this was Paradise!"

Kiba snarled, "It doesn't matter, we won't be able to find it. Not now, not ever, our chance was ruined! Let some other wolves find it!"

Tsume couldn't believe what he was hearing, the _chosen _wolf, the wolf he had thought would die before he let Paradise go, was denying Paradise. Kiba started to run off, and Tsume was frozen for a while before he shook his head and ran after him. He wasn't sure if Kiba had remembered or not, but there was always the chance. After all it had been a year since Kiba had seen him. By the time he turned the corner though, Kiba was far ahead of him. Tsume knew he could follow him by scent, even with the city stink numbing his nose, but he didn't feel like being disappointed again. Not after he was just getting used to living alone again.

Tsume headed back to where he was staying. It seemed like everything in the town had stopped moving outside. Everything was too quiet out there in the evening, no cars or voices. There wasn't any wind in the dome and half the time Tsume felt there wasn't enough fresh air either. Sighing audibly he grabbed some food out of a nearby box. He hadn't really needed to create a gang to get food anymore. Tsume would just walk right into the warehouses and grab a box. People in the new world not only were stupid, but they were much too trusting and kind. Not that Tsume was complaining getting food was much easier now. As the lights started to turn on Tsume found himself dozing off.

"Leave me alone!" An angry voice snarled, "Seriously, I _don't_ _care!_"

"But, how can you just up and forget? I saw you with Blue I know you can't have forgotten everything!" Tsume got up annoyed and looked out the window. He was surprised to see Kiba and Hige fighting. Tsume didn't even know if those two had spoken to each other or acknowledged the others existence. Kiba looked just as distressed as he had yesterday.

"Hige, wait please, you have to remember! The flower maiden, Cheza, don't you remember her?" Kiba pleaded grabbing Hige's arm.

"No, let go of me you crazy wolf, I have to get home." Hige wrenched himself from Kiba's grip, gave him one last look of clear confusion, and walked off.

Kiba stood there looking utterly confused and distressed. Tsume frowned so Kiba had remembered after all. It was about time.

"Hey, Kiba." Tsume called out, "What the hell are you doing?"

Kiba jumped and looked up, when he saw Tsume a bit of hope crossed his face, "Tsume? I thought you had forgotten!"

"Yeah, seeing with the chance you gave me I can see why you thought that way." Tsume growled.

"Oh…I was kind of…off yesterday." Kiba shrugged, "So…you remember?"

"Would I be talking to you if I didn't?" Tsume sighed, "Seriously, Kiba, just come up here."

Kiba stared at Tsume who just rolled his eyes, "Or don't, it's not like I care anymore. I mean, here I am having remembered everything since this world formed, and there you are having _just _remembered a year later. You can go beg Hige to remember on your own I guess." Tsume walked away from the window, but seconds later he could hear Kiba coming up the steps.

"So, you've remembered since…since-"

"The new world formed, or I guess its Paradise, but I must say you make shitty Paradises." Tsume said blandly.

Kiba scowled, "This _isn't_ Paradise, or at least not entirely. Cheza explained it all to me." At the mention of Cheza, Tsume stared at him.

"You found her then?"

"Yeah…"

"Where is she?"

"Dead." Kiba stated staring at the ground his blue eyes showing his pain clearly. "She wasn't exactly a maiden here, but…she was definitely still Cheza. The nobles don't exist here, so Cheza would have never amounted to much more than a lunar flower. She was doomed to have wilted in the other world too, but she promised to meet me in Paradise. I found her…she was growing here in the city. I've been taking care of her for the past few months. She's reminded me of everything, including my old pack. By the time she wilted I knew the truth of this world and the last. This world is doomed to crumble just the same as the last, Tsume, but Paradise is already open."

"I thought you gave up on Paradise." Tsume snorted, "It didn't work last time, and we had our chance. We just created a world without nobles. We aren't even _accepted_ here. If we walked around as wolves humans would shoot us just the same. There are probably even _less_ of us here."

Kiba was silent and sat down in the corner, "Cheza said it was open, we just have to trust ourselves to find it."

"Trust ourselves? You're still full of crap." Tsume sighed and sat down on the windowsill again.

"This world's evil is spreading!"

"What evil?"

"Darcia's evil."

"Darcia is still alive!" Tsume snarled, "I thought you killed him, then again you didn't answer me, but…still!"

"No, Darcia is dead; he tried to open this world and was destroyed; only I could open this world. His wolf eye remained though and it now spreads evil throughout this world like the plague. Soon, this world will succumb to the same fate as the last." Kiba growled.

Tsume sighed, "So, we'll be hunted and have to steal from nobles. Geez Kiba where did you screw up?"

Kiba snarled, "This isn't paradise, this is a new world made to house the opening to paradise. It was made for the humans!"

"Still, I'm not going on a stupid journey to be disappointed again. Remember how the last one ended." Tsume growled softly. A small, blood-soaked brown body entering his mind, he pushed it out, "I'm not going to go through that again!"

Kiba narrowed his eyes, "Tsume, we don't belong in a world of humans. I still have my wolf's pride, now where is yours?"

"I don't need pride, I have sense." Tsume spat, "I've been content to live by myself and not have to see my friends die or forget me. What makes you so sure of Paradise now anyway? You had given up yesterday!"

"I was in grief and angry yesterday. I wasn't myself, yesterday I was ready to give up, but today I know Paradise is out there. Cheza will be in Paradise…I just know it. She'll be more than a lunar flower too." Kiba smiled thinking about Cheza, "I know I can find it." Tsume didn't say anything, and Kiba looked at him, "We need to get Hige, Blue and Toboe to remember! We're going to get to Paradise this time, I promise."

Tsume flinched at Toboe's name and snarled, "You promise we'll get there, but when we get there what will be the cost this time?"

"This time it'll actually be Paradise though." Kiba said, "Help me convince Hige, please! You said you were going to help!"  
"When did I say that?" Tsume glared at Kiba.

"You said it right before I came in here! Don't deny it; you want the rest of the pack to remember too." Kiba growled.

Tsume sighed, "Yeah, I do, but how do you suppose we're going to do it."

"Well, first we need to locate them." Kiba said simply.

"Fine, Hige walks by here every day, easy enough. He probably knows where Blue is. They hooked up in this world." Tsume shrugged, "They probably live by each other."

"Alright, if we can get one to remember, then the other might too!" Kiba looked slightly excited, "That might work now Toboe we need to figure out where he lives. Would you be able to find it?" Kiba's excitement died promptly. Tsume was no longer looking at him; he was looking outside, obviously avoiding the answer.

"Toboe left his home. His Granny is dead." Tsume stated.

"W-what? Is he in the city?" Kiba asked, obviously unsure of what to do anymore, "We could track his scent then."  
"I don't know. I was going to track his scent after I found the house empty, but there wasn't any scent left. It was so faint that I lost it by the time I was by the street. I asked tons of people if they had seen him. No one had." Tsume growled bitterly.

Kiba was silent for a while; he knew Tsume felt protective of Toboe even if he would never admit it. Finally he sighed, "Tsume, we've got to go to Paradise."

"_You've_ got to go to Paradise. _I_ don't have to do anything more than sit here." Tsume said with finality.

"Are you waiting for everything to be back to the way it was? Where you can run around with your human friends?" Kiba sneered.

Tsume snarled, "I don't have friends, the scar on my chest is there to prove it."

"So I'm not your friend? Hige? Blue? Toboe?" Kiba was now standing and he was openly challenging Tsume, "Don't lie, Tsume."

Tsume glared at Kiba, "I don't feel like fighting you. I don't want to leave the city right now."

"Just sitting here won't find him." Kiba stated simply, "But, I'm going to find where Hige lives, I'll be back. If you still don't want to go by then, then I'll leave you to your loneliness."

Kiba turned abruptly and left. Tsume knew he had acted like a complete idiot, a child even, but he really didn't believe that if they went on another journey they would find Paradise at the end of the road. Kiba could believe in himself all he wanted, but Tsume wasn't going to believe in any sort of crap like Paradise. He had had enough of it.

Toboe felt completely lost. Why had he left? This place wasn't any better than where he had come from. People were trying to hunt him down. They would scream and yell and shout 'Wolf, Wolf!' None of them saw Toboe as a pet like Granny had. Never before had he been so hungry or tired. No one wanted him. The only way to survive was to beg, young children weren't afraid. They would feed him, he could manage to get scraps, but this was no way for him to live. What was he supposed to do? Toboe looked up into the sky. Faint memories that made no sense flickered in his head. It didn't matter though; those memories wouldn't get him food or a nice place to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"_I'm not going to run away and I'm not going to whine."_

"Toboe?" Tsume asked looking about, he had no idea where he was it was completely dark.

"_Let's go to Paradise together, Tsume."_

Tsume knew for certain that was Toboe's voice now, "Toboe, where are you?"

"_You know, I had this wonderful dream the other night. We were in Paradise and there were Lunar Flowers, they were every sort of color too!"_

"Where are you Toboe?" Tsume cried out, and he looked around. It seemed hopeless, but then something clicked. Tsume turned towards the sound and saw a flash of light followed by the sound of a gun being shot.

"TOBOE!"

Tsume woke up screaming. He was sweating. Putting his hand on his forehead Tsume took slow breaths, once again, it had only been a dream laced with his memories of Toboe. Tsume shook his head and got up. He felt exhausted still, but he didn't feel like going back to sleep. Not if it meant that the runt was just going to be there. Tsume tried to stop thinking about the dream; instead he turned his attention towards what Kiba had told him the day before. He had given him a choice, either go to Paradise, or stay here and be lonely. Tsume still didn't know which way he would choose. Kiba would show up soon, he knew it. When he did Tsume would have to choose. He left the room and walked around the rooftops of the city. The broken down building just seemed to stuffy, in fact the entire city-dome seemed too stuffy. There was really no reason to stay around…except to find Toboe, but that was a hopeless cause. His scent is long gone and Tsume had no idea where to look for him. If he left the city he would have a better chance of finding him.

"I'll find him, that's for sure." Tsume growled.

A drop of rain hit the top of his head. Tsume growled and looked up; rainclouds were forming above the dome. It would rain soon, and the dome wasn't completely sealed rain went through it just as easily as sunlight did. Tsume didn't care though; a bit of water wasn't going to hurt him. He continued his walk. Tsume was walking across a pipe when he saw Kiba. It took all his control not to laugh and scorn the kid. He wasn't trying to hide the fact he was a wolf. His white fur stuck out in the brown city background. Tsume sat down interested in what Kiba was up to.

Kiba was slinking around in the street, unsuccessfully trying to become unnoticed. Tsume watched as he took a position across the street from a rundown apartment building. Kiba just sat and watched the building for what seemed like hours. Tsume eventually got bored with Kiba's weird acts and got up. Right as he moved the door opened to the apartments and Hige walked out.

"Well, looks like its show time." Tsume sighed.

Kiba snuck off into an alleyway. Tsume ran across the rooftops swiftly and landed next to Kiba, who yelped in surprise. He still didn't try and create the illusion of a human.

"What the hell are you doing, Kiba?" Tsume asked exasperated, "Are you trying to show off your 'wolf pride'."

Kiba frowned, "I'm just trying to see if I can catch Hige's attention. I know I stick out like a sore thumb, but when Hige and I met in the other world, it was because I had been captured for showing myself as a wolf."

"So, you're trying to recreate that? I don't think they'll capture you, they'll just kill you." Tsume shrugged, "Give it up, and come on, if we don't move now we may miss our chance."

Kiba created the illusion of a teenage boy again and followed Tsume out of the alleyway. They tracked down Hige relatively quickly and followed him until he was by himself. After all they didn't want to create a huge scene if it came down to Hige shouting again. Also, they were planning on dropping their illusions. Not that they needed too, Hige could see through them as easily as if they weren't there. After trailing him for about five minutes Hige turned into an alley way. This seemed strange to Tsume, but he figured, Hige probably knew they were trailing him; after all he had a very good sense of smell. Kiba and Tsume dropped their illusions and walked into the alley way after him. As Tsume had predicted, Hige just stared at them like he had been expecting company.

"I could smell you trailing me since I left my home. Why do you keep pestering me?" Hige growled staring at Kiba.

Kiba sighed, "Look, I'm just trying to get you to remember. We once knew each other!"

"This is getting old quick. Also, what are you doing here? Aren't you that wolf that was sleeping on the roof? You told me about Blue." Hige looked at Tsume now, he still seemed majorly annoyed.

"I thought you would remember when you met Blue. Obviously I was wrong. I guess you guys weren't as close as I thought you were." Tsume shrugged, then seeing no reason to not to he went back to looking like a human and sat down. Let Kiba try for a while.

Hige snorted and Kiba jumped at it again, "Come on, Hige, you've got to remember I mean you and Blue met because of our journey to Paradise."

"Why are you dragging Blue into this? How do you even know Blue?" Hige growled.

"I know Blue because you insisted on her traveling with us!"

"I never traveled anywhere with you." Hige sighed, "Also, why do you insist upon looking like a wolf right now?"

"Because his pride won't let him look like a human," Tsume growled.

Kiba and Hige both stared and Tsume who just shrugged, "What?"

Kiba shook his head, "Anyway-"

"Wait…wait…" Hige put up his hand, "Shit…perhaps I do know you…"

"Really you remember!" Kiba asked excitedly.

Hige, who had been staring at nothing, looked at Kiba harshly, "No, seriously, you're just bugging me, so I thought I'd humor you a bit. Now please, don't follow me around…it's kind of creepy."

"Did you know that Blue is half dog?" Tsume asked.

"Yes." Hige looked at Tsume suspiciously. "I also know she's never met _you_ before which means you lied to me."

Tsume smiled, "How would I know that she was half dog and what she looked like, if I had never met her before?"

Hige was at a loss for a moment, but he shook his head, "Perhaps you were stalking her like you are to me right now."

"Do you remember your collar?" Kiba asked, "Number 23!"

Hige glared at Kiba, but he didn't say anything. Tsume smiled; there they had their foot in the door.

Kiba continued, "You were Jagura's wolf. You betrayed an entire pack of wolves to her. You have to remember that."

Hige looked pissed and Tsume could tell they were going the wrong direction; he tried to turn it around, "We forgave you though. Or at least Kiba did. I was kind of pissed at you after all since me and Toboe had been thrown into cages. Jagura _ate_ wolves, she was a horrid women. You had forgotten everything you had done before you met Kiba. You didn't know that you were betraying us, you had forgotten that your collar was a tracker." Tsume explained seeing a little bit of understanding in Hige's eyes, "I saw the other wolves. They had all been killed by Jagura. Each one had been stuffed with their collars still on. She let them do their jobs then she killed them. Jagura's dead now though."

Hige actually seemed to be trying to remember something now. Finally he sighed, "Look, I can see that you guys are trying to help me, but my memories are just full of death and very little happiness. Why should I remember those? It might be best if you guys forgot and tried to create a new life for yourself."

"Paradise is open, Hige, we can finally leave the human world and go on to the land where wolves are wanted." Kiba said, he put his hand on Hige's shoulder.

"Why would a traitor like me be allowed into paradise?" The question just popped out and surprised even Hige.

Kiba remembered it though and sighed, "I told you before, after fighting Jagura you redeemed yourself, you're no longer a traitor."

Hige shook his head, it seemed that he was starting to remember, "What about Blue, though? I refuse to go without her. We're mates now."

Kiba looked at Hige seriously, "Do you remember then?"

"I've had it piecing together for days, I've just been trying to repress all of them though. I recognized you, and it scared me. I didn't want to see the world go through that again. I thought that if I tried to forget I could live a new life with Blue." Hige sighed.

Kiba seemed shocked, "Then the other day-"

"Yeah, I knew who you were, I just was trying to deny it." Hige smiled apologetically. He looked at Tsume, "Honestly I didn't know who you were when I first met you here though, Tsume. You must have pieced things together pretty quick."

"Yeah." Tsume shrugged, "You seemed to interested in pretty girls for me to even try and make you remember."

Hige scowled, but Kiba interrupted his retort, "Does Blue remember?"

"She might, I never spoke of what I was remembering. I didn't want to worry her or anything." Hige said.

"Then, we could go to her now. We could probably start on our way to Paradise by this afternoon!" Kiba nodded with excitement, "This is great."

"Aren't we already in Paradise?" Hige asked confused, "If we aren't in Paradise what was all that sacrifice for?"

Kiba quickly explained to him what Cheza had told him as Hige led them back to where he lived. Hige was a little less skeptical than Tsume, but he definitely wasn't as excited as Kiba.

"If we go to Paradise, will it end up the same way as before? Where we enter Paradise and it's not exactly the world it's supposed to be." Hige asked concerned. "Darcia's gone…so it shouldn't…right?"

"Darcia may be gone…but his wolf eye remained. His evil is spreading through that eye. It well may be that we meet someone who will try and stop us just like Darcia. I'm not going to promise anything Hige."

Hige stopped and sighed, "Then…I don't know if I'm going to go. If it was just me, then maybe, but I'm not going to drag Blue into danger."

"Shouldn't you ask Blue, not just make decisions for her?" Tsume snarled.

"You don't understand," Hige said concern in his eyes, "Blue's pregnant."

Tsume was caught off guard, "W-what? She's pregnant?"

"Yeah, we're expecting pups in two months." Hige nodded. "Really, I would like to go to Paradise, but…I don't want to put Blue or my cubs in any sort of danger."

Tsume and Kiba were silent and Hige continued to walk back to his house. Kiba looked a bit sullen and Tsume just wondered how it must be to have a family. He once had his pack…but look how that turned out. They went into the apartment building, which was actually an abandoned building just like the one Tsume was living in, except this one had comfortable furniture. When Hige came in he called out for Blue.

"Hige? Who's with you?" Blue appeared around the corner, when she saw Kiba and Tsume she froze and looked at Hige. "Then…then…I'm not the only one?"

Hige smiled, "I didn't know if you remembered or not, I just started remembering about two weeks ago, but I was content just to start a new life, despite my promises."

"Same with me, Kiba, Tsume, I'm sorry." Blue sighed, "I guess, since I hadn't remembered I didn't think anyone else would."

"Tsume was the only one that remembered right away. Why aren't you with Quent…just wondering?" Kiba asked.

"When this world first formed, I guess, I was with Pops here in this city, but he had his family back. I know that much and he got a bit _too_ drunk…even though I know how much he loves me. Pops told me to get lost. So…I did and I found Hige." Blue sighed, "I know Pops is probably home in Kurios happy."

Hige nodded and so did Kiba. Tsume just snorted, "So, he's still around then. Does he still hate wolves?"

"I don't know. I don't think so, Pops still has his family, there's no reason for him to hate wolves." Blue explained.

"Except, the evil's spreading and it's starting in this city. Bad things have already happened to those who don't deserve it. It might be that Quent will lose his family. And it will be then that he starts shooting us again." Tsume growled.  
"Pops won't harm us!"

"He won't harm _you_ that's for certain." Tsume snorted.

Hige growled at Tsume so they dropped the subject. Kiba instead said, "Look, Blue, Hige, I know you guys are expecting to have cubs, but…this is Paradise we're talking about. Do you really want your cubs growing up in a crumbling world or do you want them to live in Paradise?"

"Paradise…I'm not allowed in Paradise. I'm half dog." Blue said simply. "I would love to raise cubs somewhere other than this city though. Some place like Kurios would be nice."

Kiba sighed, "I'm sure you'll be allowed in Paradise, you may not be completely wolf, but Cheza accepted you didn't she? I accept you! So, since we made Paradise you should be allowed in."

Blue shrugged, "Perhaps, but…my cubs…"

"I promise we'll keep your pups safe." Kiba said, and Tsume could see he meant it. He knew Kiba wouldn't leave for Paradise unless Hige and Blue came too.

Blue nodded and Hige spoke, "Fine, we'll join you, but where's Toboe did you leave the runt somewhere?"

Kiba looked to Tsume to answer, but Tsume refused; he didn't want to hear it. So, instead he walked out of the house to wait for the others there. They came out a little while later and without another word headed out of town. It felt strange to be leaving so peacefully. Tsume was used to exiting with a bang and having cops run him out of town. The new world really did have its pluses.

"Oh where have I gotten myself now?" Toboe whined as he looked around dismally. He was surrounded by swamp. Disgusted Toboe walked along on the bouncy ground. He couldn't smell any sort of prey, but he did smell a nice flowery scent. Interested Toboe trotted towards it. He looked at the white flowers with interest. They seemed off somehow. Like he had seen flowers like it before, then he remembered.

"They're supposed to be all white," Toboe frowned and sniffed at them. The middle of the flowers had turned purple and the water in which they grew was a blackish color. Toboe sniffed at the water and flowers, there was definitely something weird going on. Suddenly he felt very parched, against his better judgment Toboe lapped up some of the black water.


	5. Chapter 5

They had been traveling for three weeks outside the city. Tsume was becoming more and more snappish and short tempered, especially with Hige's whining about food. He knew Hige was just worried about Blue getting enough food for her and the cubs, but it still annoyed the heck out of Tsume. Blue's stomach was starting to swell with the growing cubs, and Tsume knew that in a week or two they would have to find a permanent place for Blue and them to stay.

"Kiba…could we rest?" Hige panted. "It's hot."

Tsume growled, why did he have to complain? It was hot for everyone on these plains, but Tsume wasn't whining every few minutes. Kiba shook his head.

"We should find a city or something; we'll need a better place to stay for a few weeks." Kiba said and kept trekking on.

"A few weeks?" Hige asked surprised, "Why would we stay someplace for so long."

Tsume looked at Hige and drawled sarcastically, "Does your brain ever think about anything else other than food? Perhaps Blue and your oncoming cubs enter there sometimes? No?"

Hige mumbled something and fell back to walk with Blue who was panting under the heat more than any of the others. Tsume scowled and walked in the middle of the group. He didn't talk, no one did there was too much heat. They couldn't afford to waste their energy talking or complaining in Hige's sake.

Tsume couldn't see an end to this trek though. It seemed to him that perhaps there wouldn't be another city or town for miles. Though he did have to admit, it was nice being able to see plants on the plains. It wasn't just a desert formed from humans tearing up the grass and trees. Every so often the smell of a farm would come from the distance, but they didn't dare try and steal livestock, not unless they were begging to be shot. By nightfall Blue and Hige had fallen over exhausted.

"Let's please just rest, Kiba!" Hige begged.

Kiba nodded reluctantly and sat down. Tsume wasn't at all tired and he growled, "If you guys want to rest you can, but I'm going to try and find some food."

Without waiting for them to answer Tsume ran off. He could smell a farm in the distance. Screw what Kiba had said about lying low. A bit of danger would do Tsume some good at the moment. He found the farm and crept around the fences. The smell of the cows was almost too much for him. Looking into the barn Tsume saw that there were two cows and nobody was around. The cows noticed him and started to panic. Tsume growled and was about to lunge when he heard the door slam open from the house. Quickly Tsume ducked around the side of the barn. The farmer had a gun and looked sour at having to go check on the cows.

"What'cher problem?" He shouted at them but the cows wouldn't calm down.

Annoyed with the situation Tsume looked around for some easier source of food; his eyes fell on a chicken coop. The farmer was too busy with the cows to notice Tsume pick the lock on the door and grab four of the many chickens that were now clucking and flapping about in fear. Tsume growled and shut the door putting the lock exactly how it was.

"What the hell is wrong now!" The farmer stuck his head out of the barn and saw Tsume with the chickens. Without a second thought the farmer raised his gun, "Ya put down those chickens, I'm not afraid to shoot at a theif!"

Tsume scowled and ran off with the chickens he heard the gun shots following him. The farmer was trying to give chase. Looking behind him for the reaction, Tsume let the man know exactly what he was chasing. The man blinked and froze letting Tsume get away easily.

Tsume returned to the other wolves in triumph. He threw three of the chickens in front of them and mocked Kiba, "Leave the farms be, you said, they were too much trouble for us."

Kiba glared at him, "You could've gotten shot."

"I could've but I didn't and now we have food, so don't complain so much and just eat the damn chicken." Tsume growled.

Hige and Blue didn't complain they just dug right into the food. Kiba scowled at Tsume, but his hunger won over his anger and he ate. Tsume snorted as Kiba ate the food, "If you don't let us eat from those farms we'll probably starve by the time we get to the next town."

"You don't even know where the next town is, it could be right beyond the horizon." Kiba grumbled.

"Whatever." Tsume snarled, "I shouldn't even try and reason with you."

Blue licked the blood off her muzzle and sighed, "You know Kiba, and he may have a point. It's very dangerous, but it's not entirely stupid."

"I won't steal chickens like a fox." Kiba snarled, "I'll go hungry before I do that."

"Fine, more for us then," Tsume snarled right back.

The next few days were no better. No town seemed to be showing up. Tsume continued to steal chickens and he once brought back a calf, but each time Kiba refused to eat. Blue and Hige started to worry about him, the white wolf was starting to look a tad mangy. Kiba was certainly much skinnier. They told Tsume this one night when Kiba was out hunting. Tsume just snorted, "If he won't eat the food I get then he can go hungry for all I care."

"Why do you always not care?" Hige growled.

"It's not that I don't care, it's just that I don't think I should worry. He's out hunting right now isn't he? I'm sure he'll find a prairie dog or something to eat." Tsume snorted, "Perhaps he'll bring us back some too."

"You aren't going to steal from that farm?" Blue asked, she sounded a tad disappointed.

"No," Tsume shrugged, "I thought we should probably ask for directions to the nearest town instead of killing of the livestock."

Blue and Hige grumbled something and left him alone. Kiba came back later that night empty handed.

"Find anything?" Tsume asked innocently, but there was definitely some scorn laced in.

"No, why are you still here, I thought you'd be ransacking another farm." Kiba growled.

"I didn't feel like it," Tsume shrugged, "I thought, hey, perhaps we should _ask_ where the nearest town is." He looked at Kiba who just snorted.

"I'm not kidding, Kiba." Tsume growled, "Blue is going to have her cubs in about four weeks, if you want to be in town by then, then we have to figure where that town is."

Kiba shrugged, "Fine, in the morning we'll ask."

"Also, you need to start eating something. Face it, hunting isn't working out as you planned. You aren't going to have any energy at all if you don't." Tsume said.

Kiba glared at him, "Tell me, when did you become my mother Tsume?"

Tsume snarled and turned to find some place to sleep.

In the morning they went over to the nearby farm. Kiba and Tsume hung back as Hige and Blue went up to the door. A woman opened the door and stared at all four of them. She saw Blue's swollen stomach and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we were wondering, could you tell us how far the nearest town is?" Hige asked, "We are looking for a new place to stay."

The woman still looked suspiciously at all four of them, "Yeah, it's just down the road; it's about a day's drive. Do you have a car?"

"Uh, no we don't." Hige said, "Thanks for the directions."

"Is it really safe for you to be walking about with your wife pregnant like that though?" The woman asked now looking at Blue.

"Oh, I'm fine." Blue said hurriedly.

"You all look hungry to me. Wait right there, I'll be back." The woman disappeared into her house.

Tsume looked at Kiba, he was about to say a snide remark, but the Kiba's dull, hungry eyes kept him from saying anything. The woman reappeared with a bundle full of food. Tsume grabbed it and said a quick thanks.

"We really appreciate it!" Hige said looking at the food excitedly.

Tsume immidietly took out one of the loaves of bread and broke it in half. He shoved one of the halves in Kiba's hand.

"Eat it," He snarled, "You look like you're about to fall over."

Kiba looked at Tsume searching for some sort of scorn in his eyes; he found none to his surprise. They all thanked the farm lady again and walked off.

"Now, was that such a bad idea Kiba?" Tsume asked, "Perhaps we could do that more often."

"You mean act hungry and use Blue's pregnancy to get us food? No, Tsume, were not going to do that." Kiba growled, then as an afterthought added, "Much."

Tsume laughed and Kiba ran ahead of him obviously not wanting to prove that Tsume was right…again. By nightfall they could see the town and the next morning they were walking into the small town. It was not a dome by far. In fact Blue said it was a lot like Kurious, it was just a small town thriving off farming and a small food market. Kiba found an inn soon after they arrived.

"How much would you say it would be if we wanted to spend about…four or five weeks here….perhaps a month or two?" Kiba cringed at the answer, "Thanks, but we don't have a lot of money."

Tsume snorted when he heard the price they would have to pay, "We could just live in the streets, it'll be fine, or in the forest like we did with Cheza."

"What forest Tsume?" Hige growled, "We're surrounded by plains."

Tsume grumbled, "Fine, what do you suppose Porky?"

"I don't know." Blue sighed, "Perhaps…we could work. We'll get enough money to stay around here for a while then we can start back up to Paradise."

Kiba scowled, "Work? I like living in the streets better than that, perhaps there's a barn or something."

"If you're looking for a place to stay, you could always stay at my place." An elderly man butted into the conversation.

"Your place?" Tsume growled.

"Yes, I live alone on a farm. My son is going to inherit it whenever he comes out here from the city. The house is a tad small, so you could stay in the barn. There is plenty of straw to make it comfortable." The old man gave a grin, he was missing quite a few teeth, "Or you could stay in the streets."

Hige shook his head, "No, we'll use your barn, thank you. My…err…wife is pregnant; we just need a place to stay for a while. We'll be out of here in a month or two."

"Oh, good, you boys can help on my farm then too." The old man wobbled off with the small pack following. Tsume looked about the small town. People wandered about lazily and children were playing in the deserted streets. Women were talking at corner stores and waving at other people they knew. Tsume felt like an outsider. The entire town knew each other. Somewhere deep inside Tsume knew he wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere again. He wanted to have a pack that cared about him, that would care if he was there or not. Tsume would never tell Kiba and the others that though. Kiba and the others were Tsume's pack now. They were his only family, and he hoped that they cared whether or not that he was around.

"Tsume, come one, you're lagging behind. What're you staring at?" Hige called, Tsume jumped and realized that he had been staring at the women talking.

"Sorry, I'm coming." Tsume ran after them.

Far off in another city, a mother was walking her children home from the nearby school. The dome-city certainly wasn't the best. It sunk a few feet into the swampy ground each year which would cause city wide flooding, but the homes were cheap and the single-mother of seven children couldn't afford to live anywhere else. The city was full of drunks and gangs, but she had managed to raise her children.

"Dameon, come on don't fall behind. Zach would you go get your brother, I'm having enough trouble with your younger sisters and brothers."

Dameon was the fourth child of her seven. He was thirteen and often caused her trouble by sneaking out at night and picking on his two younger brothers and younger sister. Zach was her oldest, he was twenty and basically acted the part of the father. The other two girls between Zach and Dameon didn't cause trouble, but they gave their mother enough grief by keeping to themselves and not helping with the younger children. Dameon didn't give Zach any trouble and followed obediently. He ran up to his mother, "Look, mom, I got 106% on my science test!"

His mother just nodded and picked up his youngest sister who was crying, "That's great, honey, will you hold Tray's hand thank you, dear."

Dameon took his brothers hand and scowled, his one yellow eye gleamed with anger and jealousy.


	6. Chapter 6

Dameon opened up the window in his crowded room. All the boys slept in one bedroom and the girls in the other. He hated being in such a large family, his mother never noticed him and his father could've cared less. After all, his father had walked out two years ago after his youngest sister was born. Dameon snuck out onto the fire escape and went down to the streets. His 'friends' were waiting at the bottom. Dameon didn't really consider anyone his friend, just people he could use to get what he wanted.

"'Ey come on," One of the boys growled as Dameon climbed down, "You're wasting time going that slow, what took you so long any way?"

Dameon glared at the boy with his different colored eyes, "Karen was up late screaming and crying. Zach and my mom were up longer than usual, and I had to take care of Tray and Ryan."

The boys scowled, they knew that Dameon wasn't supposed to be in a gang and that he was always sneaking out, but they found his family troubles annoying. Dameon agreed with them, he hated having to take care of his younger brothers. He saw the boys scowling and glared at them, this always caused the other boys to feel uncomfortable. Dameon had two different colored eyes, one was just a normal brown but the other was a shining yellow. They used to make fun of Dameon for his yellow eye, but he had shown them how useful he could make the eye. None of them could see as well in the night as Dameon could.

"Come on," Dameon growled, "What're we all standing about for? Let's go!"

The four boys took off down the dark street where other boys would be meeting. They met up with the others who were laughing about how they had shot another gang kid on the way here. Dameon just snorted, he didn't think that the killing had been all that impressive.

"What're you snorting about newbie? You think you could do better than that? You think you could gun down more gang kids than me?" The older boy grunted.

Dameon, who considered half the gang idiots, just shrugged and decided not to anger the boy anymore. The older boy just grunted again and left Dameon alone. The gang started to drift off to different parts of their 'territory'. Dameon went off alone as he usually did. In the dark streets Dameon would usually just brood over his jealousy and anger towards his family. Today something had caught his eye, though. It was a dark shape that looked a bit like a dog. Dameon stared at it suspiciously and went over to it. He kicked the motionless lump and it let out a whimper.

"Stupid dog, looks like its hungry." Dameon scoffed and was about to walk away, but the dog whined again.

Dameon turned and glared at the animal, did it really expect him to help it? Animals really were stupid.

"I'm not your master, go home stupid dog." Dameon growled.

The dog got up and walked over to Dameon still whimpering pitifully, in the half light Dameon could see it was a brown dog, with bracelets on one of its legs. He supposed that its master had put them on. Dameon looked over the dog with interest, it was a pretty large dog, and he guessed it was a mutt since he had never seen one like it before. The dog was very skinny and it kept twitching like it was in a lot of pain. Its gold eyes were very dull.

"I can't help you, dog, you look half dead already." Dameon turned to leave, but again the dog whined and followed him. Dameon got annoyed, "What do you expect me to do? Heal you, you're beyond my knowledge!"

The dog wouldn't leave him alone though; he pulled out his hand gun and pointed it at the dog. The dog stopped and put its ears back. He backed off and Dameon started to back away the other direction. The dog looked hurt and soon just walked away. Dameon ran off the other direction.

"Stupid dog can't even learn to leave me alone."

"I'm not a dog."

Dameon jumped and turned around; the dog was gone and in its place sat a boy that looked about his age. The boy looked just as skinny and sick as the dog.

"Wha-what did you say?" Dameon asked, thinking he had heard something.

"I said I'm not a dog." The boy growled and had a spasm of pain, "I'm a wolf."

"Wolf's aren't real stupid." Dameon laughed, "Where did that dog go anyway?"

The boy who proclaimed to be a wolf stared at him, "If I tell you, will you help me?"

"Why would I help you?"

"I'm in a lot of pain and there are horrible thoughts…horrible images and memories…they won't leave me alone. And _he_ keeps saying things to me. Bad things….I want him to leave me alone." The wolf-boy whimpered and had another spasm.

"You're completely off your knocker. I don't deal with insane people." Dameon snorted and turned to leave.

"Y-you have the eye." The wolf-boy gasped.

Dameon turned and glared at him, "What?"

"T-the eye…the eye of _him_," The boy scrambled backwards now trying to get away from Dameon, but Dameon grabbed his shirt and was amazed, the shirt felt like fur.

"The eye of who now? Are you talking about my yellow eye?" Dameon demanded.

The boy yelled and Dameon got annoyed, "Fine, I'll help you, but you better tell me more about this 'him'."

"_I'll distract it, you can trust me!" _

"Toboe…" Tsume looked about in the blackness of his dreams for the kid. Once again Toboe couldn't be seen anywhere. The dream was always the same. He could hear Toboe, but he could never see him. Not until the gun shot. Then he would see him lying there bleeding and he couldn't do anything as the kid died right in front of him.

"Tsume, get up, the old man wants your help." Tsume woke up to see Hige kicking him.

"Fine, what does he want this time?" Tsume snarled getting up and pushing the dream to the back of his mind again.

Hige shrugged, "I don't know, I would help…but Blue needs me at the moment."

Tsume looked over at Blue who was sleeping fitfully. Her pups were due any day now. They had been here for about four weeks and Tsume couldn't wait until they left. The old man had Kiba and Tsume working for him every day while he went and relaxed inside. Kiba had constantly had to calm down Tsume who was enraged by the man's behavior.

Now, Tsume left the barn to see the man patting a strange machine. He smiled at Tsume, "'Ey it looks like those crops have grown quite nicely, but now I need them harvested. I got this little beauty at the store about a year ago. It helps an old man harvest. I don't think I can stand this heat though, so would you be a good man and work the machine for me, Tsume?"

Tsume grunted, "How do I work it?"

The old man gave him a huge smile, "Oh thank you! It's quite simple really!" He went into a long explanation of the complicated gadgets and gears and levers. Tsume tried to follow but he just managed to get the basics of it.

"It'll basically run itself, not much for you to do, have fun!" The old man finished and hobbled off to the house. Kiba walked up to Tsume, he had an annoyed look on his face.

"Alright, when is Blue going to be ready to travel again?" Tsume growled.

"Calm down, Tsume, she hasn't even given birth yet. We can't stress her we'll need to deal with the old man a little while longer. Can you do that?" Kiba sighed; he was obviously wishing they could leave just as much as Tsume.

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm not sure how well I'm going to be able to drive this strange machine." Tsume kicked one of the large tires before clambering up to the top, "It just looks silly."

He started up the weird thing and snarled at how loud it was. He could just imagine Toboe screaming at the sound. With a permanent scowl Tsume harvested the old man's crops with the machine. Kiba was put to work doing some other sort of stupid job the old man could've done himself. Tsume grumbled to himself as the machine plowed along.

"Stupid old man, can't even drive a machine." Tsume growled, "I can't wait till Blue gives birth."

The day went on with the old man coming up with more and more ailments to say so he didn't have to do any work. Multiple times Kiba held Tsume back as he lunged at the man while he wasn't looking. After Hige made dinner for everyone Tsume growled to Kiba, again, "I've had it, I'm leaving after tomorrow, I'll meet up with you guys in some other town, but I can't stand that man. He'll say anything to get out of working. I swear one day he'll say he's dead!"

"Calm down Tsume." Kiba said and went to go get some food.

Tsume snorted and followed him, "That's all you'll say to me. Calm down Tsume. That's all you have to say!"

Kiba glared at him, "I already told you we just need to deal with it a little while longer. Stop complaining and just deal with it, okay? I've had just about enough of it too!"

Tsume scowled again, but he didn't complain for the rest of the night. He kept out of the barn because Blue was once again in one of her 'moods'. She got pretty angry at Hige every so often, complaining about the pain that she was in and how he just stood there. Blue was no different than any other pregnant animal. So, Tsume wandered about the town at night and watched the couple of drunks stumble around the streets whistling at women. Tsume just ignored them and sat by the small pond at the edge of the town. He had already been asking around for how far the nearest town or city was. All the people would say that they were the only town around for miles. This news kept Tsume in a bitter mood. How were they supposed to find Toboe or Paradise if they couldn't even find cities or towns?

The wind picked up and with it the smells of farms and prairie. Smells from nature that they never could have found in the other world, a world destroyed by nobles. The old world had been like a wasteland. Desert upon desert whether covered in snow or sand all Tsume could remember was wastelands. He knew this world had been given a new chance, but he could also tell that it would fall to the same ruin. Tsume and other wolves were meant to flee for Paradise, they were meant to go someplace that would never be touched by human hands. For almost anything that a human got hold of became tainted. Looking into the sky Tsume watched the moon. It was almost full and he could feel his insides fluttering in anticipation for the full moon. Watching the moon calmed him and let him feel more rested. He didn't have to be angry at the old man or feel worried about Toboe. He didn't need to think about anything but the moon. Closing his eyes Tsume let the moonlight bathe over him.

A giggle disturbed him, "Look at him, he's just lying there. Do you suppose he's a drunk?" A girl's voice said.

Another girl answered her, "Nah, it just looks like he's sleeping, come on let's go home this is boring."

"No, no, I want to know what he's doing," The first girl giggled. Tsume heard her footsteps in the grass as she crept nearer.

Tsume sighed and looked behind him at the two girls who were obviously sisters. They looked exactly the same with long brownish red hair and green eyes. The one who was creeping towards Tsume was the younger of them; she was smiling while her sister wasn't.

"Can I help you?" Tsume growled.

The younger girl giggled, "What are you doing?"

"Lying here, what're you doing?" Tsume grumbled.

"I'm going home."

"Doesn't look like that to me. It looks like you're bothering me." Tsume snarled.

The older girl went and grabbed her younger sisters hand, "Come on, you're annoying him."

The younger girl pouted, "You're rude Mister."

Tsume just snorted, "I have no need to be polite."

"Everyone should be polite!" The little girl retorted, "It's the only way people will be nice to you!"

"So, you sneaking up on me and disturbing me is considered polite?" Tsume growled and glared at her.

The older sister rolled her eyes and pulled the younger girl away. The younger girl stuck out her tongue at Tsume and walked away with her sister. He snorted, "Annoying brats."

"Tsume," A voice panted, "Tsume hurry on back, Blue is having her cubs!"

Tsume jumped up and turned to see Kiba, he had a look of excitement on his face, "She's having her cubs, come on Tsume!"

Tsume got up and ran back to the barn where Blue was lying in the straw, showing her true wolf form. She was making such a fuss that the farmer had been woken up. Hige turned to Kiba and Tsume, "Keep him out of here!"

Tsume went to the barn door where the farmer was trying to look in, "She's having her baby right now. We think there might be more than one, could you stay outside?"

The old man looked shocked to hear that there may be more than one child, "How many mouths does she think I can feed?"

"We aren't going to live here old man, in a month or two we'll be gone." Tsume growled and looked back to where Blue was breathing heavily on the straw.

The old man grumbled and hobbled back to his house, "Just don't make too much of a racket, I have a farm to run and I can't have her keeping me up all night."

He slammed the door and Tsume growled, "Bastard, _he_ has a farm to run. Geez I'd like to show him a thing or two."

"Tsume, is he gone?" Hige called.

"Yeah, he's gone." Tsume growled, but he didn't move from the barn door.

After about thirty minutes of waiting and painful delivery Blue finally sighed, "I think…that's all of them."

Tsume went over to Blue and sniffed at her cubs. There were three of them, all looked healthy and strong. There was one girl and two boys they suckled at their mother's side eagerly.

"Blue, they're beautiful..." Hige sighed and looked at Blue happily.

Kiba also looked at the pups with happiness, "They look so strong, Blue. What're you going to call them?"

Blue looked at each of them for a while and nuzzled the caramel brown female with a white chest. "She'll be called Shine and he'll be called Quent." Quent was all black and was larger than his brother. "You name the last one, Hige." Blue smiled looking at the brown puppy that had black fur along its spine, on his front paws and around his left eye.

Hige smiled at the smallest cub, "Torikku."

Kiba looked at the cubs excitedly, Tsume had never seen him this happy, except when he was with Cheza, "I would howl, but that would raise suspicion with the farmer."

"Let's just be happy more quietly then." Hige said his happiness overflowing from him.

"She had what!" The old man yelled in shock the next morning.

"Triplets," Hige smiled at the old man's reaction, "Three children."

"Good lord." The old man looked at the barn where Blue was sleeping with her cubs peacefully, "How do you suppose you're going to raise three kids without a home?"

"We'll manage." Hige shrugged, "I need to get back to her now, and don't worry we'll be out of your hair in a month or two!"

Tsume watched the old man try and regain his composure with pleasure. "Three…three babies…how in the world…"

The old man didn't even give Kiba and Tsume much of a job, "I-I guess we'll be needing some more food, why don't you boys go and get some."

He handed them some money and Kiba and Tsume went off to the town. Tsume let Kiba do most of the shopping. Kiba was a better people person than he was after all. They wandered around the town not talking for a while. Kiba broke the silence though.

"You know…I smell lunar flowers."

"Here?" Tsume asked incredulously.

"No, they're somewhere a few miles from here. Hige says he smells them too, but something isn't right about the smell. I want to check it out." Kiba said.

Tsume scowled, Kiba always scented Lunar Flowers, but then again if Hige smelt it then it had to be real. "What isn't right about them?"

"I don't know, Hige said they smell a tad different." Kiba shrugged.

Tsume rolled his eyes, "And we're checking them out why? I thought we were searching for Paradise by, what was it, believing in ourselves?"

"Do you still not believe Paradise is waiting?"

"I do sometimes and then other times I face reality." Tsume sniffed and ignored Kiba's dirty look.

A gust of wind hit them both full in the face. Tsume froze and so did Kiba.

"I'm sure I smelt them…the lunar flowers they must be in the next town over." Kiba said, "It's far from here, but we've got to go!"

"I don't give a damn about those Lunar Flowers…" Tsume said, "But I smelled him…I smelled Toboe…he came through this town."


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, are you sure you can manage with three babies?" The old man asked for the thousandth time that day. Tsume had gotten annoyed with the question.

"We'll be fine, old man." Tsume growled, "There are four of us and we're going to stop in the next town or city that we see."

"The next city isn't a good one; it's full of thieves, drunks, and gangs. Really you could stay here a bit longer." The old man looked hopeful.

"No, it's fine." Kiba said with finality, both him and Tsume wanted to leave now, even if the cubs were only four weeks old. They had opened their eyes and were able to walk around now, so they figured they could keep moving. Blue appeared from the barn holding Shine, she had finally managed to get the cubs to look like humans. None of them wanted to though. Quent was being held by Hige who also was struggling with Torikku. The old man blinked and then nodded, "I hope you have a safe travel. I could pack you some food if you like."

Blue smiled, "That would be great."

The old man disappeared and Quent struggled from his father's grasp. Once he hit the ground he was running around looking like a black cub again. Tsume sighed the cubs weren't able to keep their illusions up for very long. Blue looked at him exhausted, "Quent, please try and look human for a little while longer."

Kiba sighed, "I'll take them behind the barn so the old man won't see." He grabbed Torikku and let Quent and Shine stumble after him. The old man appeared right after they went behind the barn.

"Where'd those babies go?" He asked.

"Kiba has them for right now; they're a lot to handle." Blue smiled and took the food graciously.

The old man looked at them all suspiciously, and then he sighed, "You know…there's something not right about you people."

Tsume tensed as did Hige and Blue, but the old man just laughed, "You don't think that I didn't know that you were wolves? Don't be so alarmed, I'm not gonna shoot ya."

Blue and Hige relaxed and Kiba poked his head out from behind the barn. Tsume remained tense though. The old man patted Blue, "Take care of those cubs, and I hope they learn to conceal themselves like you four can."

Blue nodded and they bid farewell to the old man and headed around the town. They didn't want to deal with the townsfolk's seeing the cubs. Kiba had said they would travel along the road and they would try and find the Lunar Flowers that he had smelled.

"Where are we going now?" The little cub Shine asked running around her father excitedly.

"We're going to a new town," Hige said patiently.

"Why?" Quent asked this time.

"Because we couldn't stay in that town forever," Hige laughed, "Did you really want to live in that barn all your life?"

Quent shook his head, and now Torikku found that it was his turn to ask a question, "Why can't we live in one place though?"

"We're going to Paradise." Kiba answered.

Tsume sighed as all three cubs asked in unison, "What's Paradise?"

"It's a place where wolves can be free and we don't have to pretend to be humans." Kiba explained.

"Is it nice there?" Shine asked.

"I don't know I've never been there," Kiba shrugged.

Quent scowled, "Then how do you know how to get there?"

Kiba looked over at Tsume who was smiling, Kiba sighed, "I just have a feeling."

That was good enough for Quent who had already gotten bored with hearing about Paradise. Kiba glared at Tsume who laughed, "I didn't tell him to ask it if that's what you're glaring at me for! I find it funny that even a cub finds it ridiculous though!"

Kiba snorted and kept walking. By noon the cubs were exhausted and could barely walk another step. Kiba, Hige, and Blue each grabbed one. Tsume didn't want to be in charge of one of the cubs. He already knew he frightened them a little. The other day he had walked into the barn and accidently bumped Shine. She had looked at him with large frightened brown eyes and ran to her mother's side. Tsume didn't really care that they were frightened though, he didn't exactly come off as a kind hearted guy after all.

"I smell smoke." Hige said his words muffled by Quent's fur.

Kiba nodded his agreement. Blue looked around concerned as to where the smoke was. Tsume could see it though; it was rising from the horizon.

"I'll go on ahead, Kiba." Tsume ran off without waiting for Kiba's answer.

As he drew closer he saw exactly what had caused the smoke. A village had caught on fire. He carefully picked his way through the rubble seeing the sickening results of the fire. Something about it gave Tsume the creeps. He didn't know what though. Not long after he had entered the town he heard Blue give out a howl. Surprised he went back to where he had entered the town. Blue was in tears as she stared at the town.

"What's up with you Blue?" Tsume asked.

"It's…its Kurios." Blue said, "This is Kurios, it still burnt, even here."

Tsume looked back at the town, "Then does that mean…Jagura and the other nobles are here?"

"No, there are no nobles here; it burnt down for another reason." Kiba shook his head.

Tsume sniffed and stiffened, "Blue, I believe the old man may still be around, we have to go!"

Blue shook her head though, "Pops wouldn't shoot us, wolves couldn't have done this and you know it!"

"Does he know that?" Tsume snarled and pulled Blue to her feet.

"Leave her alone, Tsume!" Hige snarled, "This was her home!"

Tsume growled, but he backed away from Blue. He turned and looked farther into the town expecting the old man to stumble out at any moment. Blue had already sunk back down to the ground. Tsume took off into the town by himself. He sniffed and tried to find some sort of answer to this problem, also he was keeping an eye out for the old man. Tsume reached the top of a hill where a single house had stood. Now it was nothing more than ashes. He froze; the old man was in front of the house lying on the ground. Tsume crept closer to the old man sniffing about for other people. The old man twitched and Tsume took a step back. Quent looked up and saw Tsume, he gasped, "A-another wolf…"

"Another?" Tsume knew that Quent could see through the illusions of wolves better than other humans, "Do you mean there were other wolves here?"

"Only one…and…and there was a boy." The old man said, Tsume went closer and to his amazement he saw that Quent was dying. He had been shot.

"The…boy…he had…he had the eye…"

"The eye?" Tsume asked crouching down by Quent to hear him better, "What's 'the eye'?"

"He had…the eye…of a….wolf." Quent breathed staring at Tsume with now sightless eyes. The old man had died.

"The eye of a wolf…" Tsume growled, "Darcia."

Without another thought to the old man Tsume got up, but he saw that Kiba and the others had already trekked up the hill. Blue stared at Quent in horror, "Pops?"

"He's dead." Tsume said looking anywhere but at Blue.

Blue ran to Pops and crumpled down beside him. Hige followed her slowly while the cubs stayed by Kiba unsure of what was going on, but they knew better than to ask.

"What did he say, Tsume, I saw you speak to him?" Kiba asked.

"He said that the man who did this had the eye of a wolf." Tsume growled then shook his head, "No, he said it was a boy, but the boy had wolves with him."

Kiba nodded, "Okay."

"I don't understand, he couldn't mean Darcia could he?" Tsume demanded, "You said Darcia was destroyed, he wouldn't have been allowed to be recreated here!"

"You're right, Darcia was destroyed, but his wolf's eye wasn't. Which means part of Darcia is still alive in this world. It's just waiting for someone to latch onto and he must have chosen that boy." Kiba shook his head, "His evil is spreading too fast we have to get to Paradise soon."

"Kiba…" Shine whimpered, "I don't like this place."

Quent and Torikku nodded their agreement. Tsume looked at Kiba then to Blue and Hige who had moved the human Quent to lie beside his wife and child. Hige led Blue back to where Tsume and the others were waiting.

"We should go." Kiba said.

Blue nodded and picked up Shine. Kiba and Hige also picked up a cub and they ran off from the burnt village. Tsume looked behind him when they were farther away and glared at the smoke. This world was succumbing to the evil too fast. For once he agreed with Kiba, if Paradise was really out there they had to get to it soon.

Toboe sat beneath the fire escape shivering. The boy had tried to help him, but the horrible images of wolves being slaughtered still played out before his eyes. He had to keep himself from screaming because the boy had gotten mad and kicked him last time he had. Toboe just wanted to run away, but the boy said he couldn't leave until he explained his eye. He had forced Toboe to go with him to the neighboring town of Kurios. The boy had set it on fire and laughed. He had _laughed._ Toboe had been horrified, but he couldn't remember much from that night. Something strange had overcome him after the boy had set fire to the town.

"Why did you do that?" Toboe had screamed as the town went up and flames and people tried to flee.

"Because, they would have all died eventually I'm just speeding it up." The boy had laughed. Toboe had flinched from the glowing yellow wolf's eye. "You should try and enjoy yourself, wolf, after all aren't you craving for a bit of blood like I am?"

Toboe couldn't remember anything after he said that, just the horrible yellow eye. He couldn't remember where he had seen an eye like that before, but he knew he had. He had seen one before and it hadn't ended well.

"Wolf, it's time for you to explain about this eye of mine." The boy climbed down from the fire escape and landed right in front of Toboe.

"I can't remember I just know that _he_ also had one." Toboe grimaced in pain at the thought of the dark man with the different colored eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

The boy frowned, "What's your name, wolf, I'm Dameon."

"Toboe."

"Toboe…hmm, look where do you come from? Aren't wolf's supposed to be extinct?"

"Yes, but Granny found me when I was very little, I hadn't even opened my eyes. She took care of me." Toboe smiled at the thoughts of his Granny they pushed away the other dark thoughts.

"So you were someone's pet?" Dameon asked a bit disappointed.

"Yes." Toboe nodded, "She gave me these." Toboe held up his bracelets.

"You're too tame to be a wolf, if you stick with me, perhaps I can help you become a true wolf." Dameon stood up and smiled. "Then, when you remember, you can tell me about my eye."

Toboe looked up and Dameon who smiled at him kindly, "You'll try and help me?"

"Sure, I'll help you. Where do you live?" Dameon helped Toboe to his feet.

"I don't have anywhere to live." Toboe stated, he felt the horrid thoughts that had hounded him ever since he drank the black water diminish slightly.

"Well, that won't do how about you be my pet for a while? Until I teach you to be a true wolf. You can be my family's dog." Dameon nodded, "Of course to be my pet you can't look like a boy."

Toboe nodded and immediately Dameon saw the dog from last night again…no the _wolf_ from last night. He smiled, the wolf was truly clueless. Once Dameon had the information he had out of him he would ditch him or get rid of him. Let the stupid animal think they were friends if it helped regain the memory then he would play along. Ever since he had met Toboe he had heard a voice whispering to him. He had been trying to hear it, but if he let Toboe go, he might never know what it was saying. He had constantly asked who the voice was, and it would answer, but he couldn't hear it. As he led the wolf up the stairs though, he heard it right as the wolf had a spasm of pain, _Darcia. _


	8. Chapter 8

Tsume growled in disgust as his paw sunk into the mud again. He couldn't believe Kiba was making them trek through this swamp. Kiba was still following the scent of the tainted Lunar Flowers. Tsume would've complained long ago, but now even he could smell them. They weren't far; they also weren't far from where Toboe's scent had gone. He had picked up the wolf's scent after they left Kurios, and he could also smell it very faintly in this swamp. A yelp sounded from behind and Tsume sighed as he saw Quent trying to free his paw from some mud. Annoyed Tsume went to help the cub, but as he got close, Quent squealed in fear. Tsume backed up instinctively. Hige ran back to help Quent.

"Quent, he was only trying to help you, don't overreact." Hige said after he freed the cub. Quent just ran off to Blue's side. Hige looked at Tsume apologetically.

Tsume snorted and kept walking, "I don't care if he's afraid of me."

Kiba suddenly froze and shouted, "I see them, and we were right, there is something wrong!"

He ran off ahead and Tsume followed close behind. Hige, Blue, and the cubs brought up the rear. Tsume inspected the flowers cautiously. They smelled like Lunar Flowers and they would've looked like them too, but the inside of them was purple. Tsume looked at the water, it was completely black. Intrigued he sniffed at it and recoiled.

"There's something wrong with the water." Tsume growled.

Kiba sniffed at it too, "There's something really evil about this place…"

Tsume snorted sniffed the air, Toboe had been here too! They were right on his trail. Torikku crept up beside Tsume and was sniffing at the water. Tsume saw what the cub was about to do and threw him back away from the water.

"Do _not_ drink that stuff. It'll do nothing but harm to you." Tsume snarled. Torikku yelped and ran off. Tsume sighed; he had successfully given those cubs another reason to be afraid of him.

Kiba snarled, "This might be the place…" He turned to Tsume who looked at him confused, "This could be the place Cheza spoke to me about. The center of evil for this world, it's the place where Darcia's eye entered, and perhaps part of his soul."

"Then I want nothing to do with this place." Tsume snarled, "Let's go. I propose following Toboe's scent now."

Kiba looked at the Lunar Flowers and water one last time and nodded, "Yeah, we should find Toboe and get to Paradise."

Tsume smiled, "Finally."

Shine crept up to Kiba and asked, "Who's Toboe?"

"He's a friend of ours." Kiba answered.

"Oh." Shine nodded and ran back to her brothers.

Tsume smelled the city before they reached it. It smelled horrible. Hige snorted, "This place is going to numb my nose."

Kiba looked just as disgusted, "I wonder why Toboe is here?"

Tsume grunted in agreement. They wandered a little into the town before they saw an abandoned building. Blue took the cubs in there so they wouldn't raise suspicion. Hige stayed with them. He didn't trust the city. Tsume agreed the people were probably as rotten as the smell of the city.

Kiba and Tsume went into town without them. Tsume looked around hopefully for Toboe; he had lost the runt's scent within the stink of the city.

"Do you smell him?" Tsume asked.

"No, this city is horrid." Kiba growled, "Doesn't seem like the sort of place Toboe would like."

"No, it doesn't." Tsume agreed and kept looking around.

In the alleyway the two wolves were unaware of the boy. He was watching them with interest and listening to their conversation. Dameon laid his hand on his gun, the voice of Darcia that now whispered to him constantly was pushing him to shoot them.

"_They are nothing but trouble, shoot those fools!" _Darcia demanded.

"They'll show me to this Paradise though, won't they?" Dameon asked.

He received no answer and took out his gun aiming it at the teenage boy with black hair. He closed one of his eyes so that only his wolf eye was open. They boy immediately looked like a white wolf.

"_Don't shoot." _Darcia suddenly said and Dameon dropped the gun, "_Let them show you to Paradise._"

Dameon put away his gun and sunk back into the darkness of the alleyway. He was eager to see this Paradise Darcia spoke to him about. He said that it was a place ruled by wolves. Dameon wasn't at all interested in the wolves; he just wanted to do something. He wanted to be known and finding this Paradise would do it.

"Tsume, I don't even know if he's in this city anymore." Kiba sighed, "How are we supposed to find him?"

Tsume refused to answer and continued to stare across the city from the roof of a tall building. They had been searching all afternoon for Toboe and nothing had come up. Now all Tsume could do was hope to find something that would tip him off, a small sign. Annoyed Tsume jumped into the alleyway, not waiting for Kiba he started walking down the dark street. Kiba wasn't far behind though.

"Tsume, what are you doing?" He demanded.

"I don't know." Tsume growled back.

Kiba growled, but he suddenly stopped and Tsume looked back to see him crouching down by some trash cans. He had something in his hand. Intrigued Tsume went over to him.

"It's Toboe's." Kiba held up a silver bracelet. It was one of the bracelets Toboe wore on his wrist.

Tsume grabbed it and looked around, "So, he definitely was here."

Kiba growled and Tsume turned about to see a teenage boy passing by the street. He was smiling in a way that made Tsume nervous. He pocketed the bracelet and stared at the boy who had on sunglasses.

"What do you want?" Tsume demanded.

The boy laughed, "I haven't done anything, don't throw out accusations!"

"I didn't accuse you of anything." Tsume growled.

The boy glared at Tsume, "I don't like the way you talk."

"Quick to start a fight aren't you." Tsume smiled, "You'll regret it!"

The boy pulled out a gun and pointed it at Tsume. Kiba tensed and Tsume laughed, "Are we really going to even bother Kiba?"

Kiba shrugged, "He seems to want to."

"Actually, I don't want to shoot you." The boy smiled, "I just want to know why you're here."

"We're looking for someone." Kiba snarled, "Put down your gun if you don't want to shoot us!"

The boy put down his gun and removed his glasses. Kiba and Tsume both snarled at the boy now.

"You have a wolf's eye!" Kiba growled.

"Yeah, I've gotten that before. The person who told me was standing right where you were." The boy smirked at them.

Tsume growled, he had gotten the hint, "You know where Toboe is?"

"Sure."

"Where is he?" Tsume demanded.

"Why would I tell you?" The boy laughed, "I don't even know you."

Tsume snarled, "You're starting to piss me off!"

Kiba stood in front of Tsume, "This is the only lead we've got, don't go threatening him."

Tsume continued to glare at the boy, but he let Kiba talk, "Our names are Kiba and Tsume, what is yours?"

"Dameon."

"Dameon could you please tell us where Toboe is?"

"You mean the red headed kid who can turn into a brown dog?" Tsume growled in annoyance. He knew Dameon was playing with them.

Kiba could also tell. He said with extreme patience, "Yes, that's Toboe."

"I don't know his _exact_ location right now." Dameon shrugged. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"He's a friend of ours." Kiba said again with trying patience.

Dameon was silent then he grinned, "Alright then."

"You'll tell us where he is?" Tsume asked.

"No, I just wanted to know for certain if you were who I thought you were." Dameon smiled coldly. "Goodbye then, I'll see you again though, don't worry."

Before Tsume could lunge at him the boy had disappeared down the alleyway. Tsume had never felt so angry before.

"I swear next time I see him, I'll tear out his throat." Tsume snarled.

Kiba nodded, "I won't try and stop you."

"You know, Toboe, some other wolves were looking for you today." Dameon said matter of factly.

"Other wolves? What did they look like?" Toboe asked thinking of the strange wolves he had memories of but he couldn't think of their names.

"One was white and one was gray." Dameon looked for a reaction on Toboe's face, he wasn't disappointed.

Toboe smiled, "Did they tell you their names?"

Dameon thought for a moment then shrugged, "No."

"Oh…that's too bad. I think I knew them from somewhere else." Toboe sighed and thought about the strange memories, "Was there a brown wolf or a black one?"

Dameon looked at him interested, "No, why do you ask?"

"I remember traveling with a white wolf, a gray wolf, a brown wolf, and a black wolf. I can't remember any of their names though. It's really aggravating. I just remember snippets of what we did together. I also remember a couple of humans. One man…the man the black wolf…or half-wolf…well, either way she was close to this man, but he kept trying to shoot us. I think he might have even shot me at some point, but that couldn't be right because I think I would have died from what I remember." Toboe said perplexed. "Trust me…it's really aggravating."

"I'll take your word for it." Dameon shrugged. "Tell me some more about what you remember of that Darcia guy."

"It's strange he's the only one I can remember the name too." Toboe sighed, but he told Dameon about Darcia, how he was pretty sure Darcia was there when the man who had shot him shot him. "I think once that man shot me, I stopped Darcia from shooting him…I don't know why. I think I was protecting him."

"But he had tried to shoot you multiple times, why would you protect him?" Dameon stared at him confused, "I wouldn't even care if Darcia shot the guy. He tried to kill you."

"You sound like the gray wolf." Toboe laughed, "I don't know, just my instinct said to protect him and I did." Toboe suddenly looked sullen, "Well I _tried_ to protect him I failed. I'm pretty sure he died. Or did he? I survived after all…it's really quite confusing it's like that was another life…"

Dameon nodded absently and instead listened to Darcia's voice as he told him plans that Dameon would one day soon fulfill.

"Dameon…" Toboe said staring at him.

"Yeah, what?"

"They really didn't say their names?"

"No…they didn't."


	9. Chapter 9

Tsume was in a bad mood. Kiba had gone back to check on Hige and Blue, but Tsume refused to leave the city till he found Toboe. He knew Kiba was as frustrated as him that the one lead they had had been making fun of them. Tsume took out the bracelet and examined it. It was definitely Toboe's bracelet. The bracelet still had Toboe's scent but he couldn't follow it because his nose was numbed so badly. Tsume twirled the bracelet absently; he had no idea what he was going to do. He got up to meet up with Kiba when he heard it. The sound was far off, but this early in a city like this sound could travel. It was the sound of a gunshot and then the yelp of a terrified wolf.

Dameon walked along the streets with Toboe at his side. He had ditched school and decided to fulfill Darcia's wish. He wanted to get this Paradise thing started. Dameon had been reluctant at first to carry out the first part of the plan, but…it had to be done. He had to admit he had grown a tad fond of Toboe. The wolf had such a happy attitude now that Darcia was leaving him and becoming part of Dameon.

"So, where are we going Dameon? I thought you had to be in school today?" Toboe asked. He had created the image of being a boy again.

"I'm ditching school, there's nothing there for me." Dameon sniffed, "Anyway, I just thought I'd walk about."

Toboe frowned and shrugged, "Okay."

Dameon kept his hands in his pockets. His right hand closed over his gun which was loaded and ready for use. He knew he had to shoot Toboe, Darcia had told him to. He walked down a deserted street and paused. Sighing he looked at Toboe who was looking around a bit confused.

"Why did you stop?"

"I don't have any use for you anymore Toboe." Dameon said and took out the gun, "If you aren't any use to me then I might as well get rid of you. After all, you know who I am."

Toboe backed up towards a bunch of sewage pipes, "Who you are?"

"You're such an idiot! I'm becoming Darcia. This world is going to fall, he says so, and I'm the one that will help it! I'm going to become the Darcia of this world! You helped me posses him…but now you no longer have anything to offer me. So, it's time for you to go. You were given a second chance to live in this new world…now I'm giving you a second chance to die!" Dameon shot at Toboe and he yelped.

Annoyed Dameon saw he had only hit the wolf's arm. Toboe ran and Dameon continued to shoot at him.

"_Idiot, everyone will be able to hear those shots, you should leave, now!"_ Darcia screamed at him. Dameon looked about, "I don't see anyone."

"_That's because they haven't made it here yet. It's time to leave." _Dacia snarled.

Dameon shrugged pocketed his gun and ran off. Right as Dameon ran off Toboe sighed in relief. He sunk down in the sewage pipe he was hiding in. So, Dameon didn't care about him. What had he meant a second chance to live? Or on that matter a second chance to die? Had he died before? It was all too confusing and his head hurt.

"Toboe?" Tsume dropped down into the deserted street that smelled like sewer and blood.

Tsume looked about for Toboe, or Dameon, but he didn't see either. He tried to hear any sound of someone being here, but beyond the drip of water there was barely anything.

"Toboe, come one, it's me Tsume!" Tsume called out looking for the runt, "You are here…right?"

From inside the sewage pipe, something clicked in Toboe's brain. The name Tsume…it was one of the wolves…but which one?

"Toboe," Tsume growled, "I swear to god…if you don't answer-"Tsume paused he saw movement. Swiftly he ran over to the sewage pipe where Toboe was hunched over holding his arm. Toboe stared at him trying to remember.

"Are you going to betray me too?" Toboe asked now glaring at Tsume, "Because if you are just leave me alone. I've had enough of everyone."

"Come on, Toboe, don't you remember yet?" Tsume asked exasperated. "I'm Tsume. We met…in the other world."

Toboe stared at the ground, "The other world…a second chance to live…"

"Do you remember? Kiba opened a new world…we're going to find Paradise this time!" Tsume said excited.

"Isn't…isn't this supposed to be Paradise?" Toboe asked. His memories, which had once been broken and fuzzy, started to clear and come together they finally made sense.

"Are you kidding me? Does this look like Paradise? Damn it, Toboe, there's a kid that's like Darcia around here somewhere; this world is _nothing_ like the Paradise I thought of." Tsume snorted.

"I thought you didn't believe in Paradise." Toboe smiled. "And Dameon basically is Darcia…"

"You know Dameon?" Tsume looked at Toboe surprised, "Then he wasn't lying yesterday!"

Toboe winced, "Yeah, I know him. You're going to be very angry with me Tsume. I've done something really bad."

"I don't care." Tsume laughed, "At the moment I'm just happy to see you, is your arm alright?"

Tsume's smiled faded as he saw Toboe's arm. Toboe shook his head, "I'll be fine, just help me out of this pipe."

Tsume pulled Toboe out. Toboe winced a bit, but once he was out he hugged Tsume. "I'm sorry."

"What the hell did you leave the other city for?" Tsume asked pushing Toboe off of him gently.

"It was because of granny…" Toboe sighed, "It seems like so long ago. I accidently killed her…again. I couldn't stand it and I ran off I guess. I had started to remember then too and it was driving me crazy. I wanted to get away from you and the others. I just wanted to forget I guess."

Tsume sighed and then spun around as two people ran into the alleyway. Luckily it was only Hige and Kiba.

"Hey, Tsume what's-"Whatever Kiba was going to ask he broke off and smiled, "Toboe!"

"Hi." Toboe smiled, "So, does everyone remember?"

"You're the last one, kid." Tsume said.

Toboe exhaled loudly, "Typical, huh?"

"You look like crap." Hige greeted him bluntly.

"Do I?" Toboe looked at himself.

Tsume started to laugh; it wasn't that there was anything particularly funny about the situation…it just felt nice to laugh. Toboe smiled, "What's so funny?"

"I don't know." Tsume shrugged.

Toboe started to laugh then too, but his laughter was cut short since he almost fell over. Tsume steadied him, "Perhaps you shouldn't push it."

Toboe frowned, "Yeah, I guess not."

"How'd you get hurt anyway?"

"Dameon…he shot my arm…I guess he's not as good as a shot as he thought. He was aiming to kill after all. Either way I was able to hide in that sewage pipe with only a grazed cheek and my arm hurt." Toboe shrugged.

Kiba scowled, "Damn him. He's getting on my nerves."

"Really, because he's already pissed me off. Let's just go kill him now!" Tsume snarled.

Toboe shook his head quickly, "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"Toboe…now isn't the time to defend him. After all you said it yourself he tried to kill you!" Tsume growled.

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing, runt, he's nothing but trouble!" Hige nodded.

Toboe swayed again and nodded, "Perhaps…"

Tsume grabbed his uninjured arm to steady him and started walking. "Come on, let's get back to Blue."

Kiba and Hige nodded. Toboe stumbled about by Tsume trying to keep pace.

"Are you going to make it?" Tsume asked, he noticed that Toboe seemed pretty skinny also, "You really don't look good."

"I'll be fine…" Toboe waved him off and kept walking. He managed to walk in a straighter line at least.

Tsume, Kiba, and Hige kept glancing at him nervously though. They expected him to fall over any minute. Toboe didn't prove them wrong either; they had almost made it to the abandoned building when Toboe swayed then fell over. He hit the ground with a dull thud. Tsume and Kiba managed to drag him into the building and up a flight of stairs. When they got in there Blue looked at them shocked.

"What happened?"

"Toboe passed out. Dameon shot him." Tsume said gently putting Toboe on a tattered blanket. "Do we have anything for his arm?"

"Yeah…" Kiba went over and started binding Toboe's arm.

The cubs had been silent as they walked in. Tsume sat down and looked over to where they sat goggling at Toboe. Torikku broke the silence, "Whoa, who's that!" He scampered over to where Kiba was and stared at Toboe.  
"His names Toboe, he's a friend." Tsume answered the cub.

The cub stared at Tsume, "You know him?"

"Yea."

"How?"

"We met." Tsume rolled his eyes.

"How?"

"In another city?"

"How?"

Tsume looked at the cub; his patience was at its breaking point. Torikku obviously didn't get the hint though. Luckily, Quent caught Torikku's attention so Tsume didn't have to snap. Hige stood by Tsume.

"Do you think Dameon will cause more trouble?" He looked meaningfully at his cubs.

Tsume looked at them too, "I wouldn't doubt it. The kid's trouble, I'm sure of it."

Hige scowled, "Yeah…wish I had met him. If anyone looked like Darcia I would've just killed him. Why didn't you and Kiba? Or in another case why didn't Toboe?"

"I guess you always have to give people a chance, but next time I see him I'm tearing out his throat without blinking an eye." Tsume said evenly and went to sit in the corner by Toboe. Even if Toboe wasn't in the best shape, Tsume was happy to finally have the runt back in the pack.

**Hey, so I had wanted to finish this story…but now my summer is almost over. So, you'll have to wait a bit longer for each chapter. I'll be at band camp all next week so no update then either, thanks for reading! ~ Cloudshika**


	10. Chapter 10

Toboe blinked a couple of times. Where was he? Why did his arm hurt? Everything rushed back to him and he realized he was with his pack. Toboe hoisted himself up and winced a bit from the pain in his arm.

"What are you doing? You should be resting." Tsume woke up and said annoyed.

"I just woke up." Toboe replied simply.

Tsume sat up from where he had been sleeping in the corner by Toboe, "I found something of yours, seems like you dropped it."

Tsume handed him the silver bracelet. Toboe took it and smiled, "Thanks, Tsume, how did you find this?"

"I've been trying to track you since I left the other city…we all have." Tsume shrugged.

Toboe slipped on the bracelet so it was right beside the others, "Why didn't you guys just leave me? After all it must have been troublesome-"

"Don't be an idiot." Tsume snorted, "We weren't just going to ditch you, Toboe. You're our friend."

Toboe smiled, "You consider this pack your friends then?"

Tsume sniffed, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Toboe couldn't have looked happier, then as if remembering something the smile faded, "In the other world…whatever happened…I mean how did this new world come to be? I have faint memories of being in another place before I was here."

"When you died you mean?" Tsume asked.

"Yeah, after I died, what happened?" Toboe repeated looking at Tsume expectantly.

Tsume sighed, "Well…Quent died with you I'm sure you know, and well…we had to keep moving. The others went off ahead of me."

"Why were you behind?" Toboe asked interested.

"I…I stayed back with you for a while." Tsume didn't look at Toboe.

Toboe smiled, "I understand, Tsume, I would've done the same. You're like an older brother to me."

"Yeah," Tsume smiled at the ground, "Well, once I left you and reached the mountain it turns out that Hub hadn't been able to make it either."

"Hub died!"

"Yeah, he fell down the mountain." Tsume said, "When I got up farther I found Blue and Hige. Darcia…he had turned himself into a wolf somehow." Tsume got quieter, "He had killed Blue and Hige was almost dead. I killed Hige myself…he told me too."

Toboe was looking at the ground sadly and Tsume continued, "When I got to the top of the mountain I found Darcia and fought him."

Toboe looked at Tsume expectantly, but Tsume just sighed, "I died too, Toboe."

"Then…how do you know this isn't just an afterlife?" Toboe asked skeptically, "We aren't in Paradise and we aren't in our old world."

"No, we're in the new world. Not some afterlife. Kiba told me that he had fought Darcia and Cheza had poisoned him. Darcia had tried to enter this new world and he had been destroyed except for his wolf's eye. Kiba was able to enter this world after that." Tsume finished.

"So…where's Paradise then?" Toboe sighed, "It seems to have cost so much to get here, why aren't we in Paradise?"

"I don't know. Kiba says Paradise is open somewhere in this world. We have to reach it before Dameon that's for sure. That kid seems to be Darcia recreated." Tsume growled.

Toboe looked down ashamed, "He wouldn't have been. It's my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Tsume scoffed, "You didn't do anything."

"Yeah…I did." Toboe shook his head, "I told you…you're going to be really angry with me."

Tsume looked at Toboe causing him to look away. "What happened?"

Toboe shook his head, "I…you're going to be angry, Tsume!" Toboe put his head in his hands, "I can't say it!"

Tsume moved next to Toboe, "Toboe, what did you do?"

Toboe wouldn't move or talk so Tsume sighed and leaned against the wall. He would have just gone to bed, but Toboe was still awake. He saw Toboe move his head so he could stare at the sleeping forms of Hige, Blue, and Kiba. His eyes fell on the cubs.

"Are those Blue and Hige's cubs?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, the brown one is Shine, the black one is Quent, and the gray and black one is Torikku." Tsume answered him staring at the cubs, "They don't like me very much. I think I scare them."

Toboe snorted in laughter, "Well…you can be pretty scary." He smiled at Tsume playfully.

Tsume scowled, "Watch it, Runt."

Toboe sighed, "Look…Tsume, don't tell anyone."

"Don't tell anyone what?" Tsume asked, "Seriously, kid, you need to explain yourself."

"Don't tell them that it's my fault Dameon is becoming Darcia all over again. I was stupid." Toboe shook his head in anger, "I drank some of that water."

"The black water?" Tsume looked at Toboe amazed, "I've seen that stuff, it was pure evil. Damn it, Toboe, why were you even there?"

"I was wandering after everything I had happened in the other city. I can't remember what possessed me to drink that water, but I know it was stupid. After I drank that stuff…well, things got even worse." Toboe sighed.

"I would think." Tsume frowned, but he listened intently to what Toboe was saying.

"Afterward I started to remember everything even more, but I couldn't remember your names. I didn't know if the people I remembered had really cared or not. It was really painful having Darcia trying to take over. Then…I found Dameon. I begged him to help me not knowing who he was. I was scared of him at first and then he started to be kind to me. For a while I just thought because I felt like he was my friend that's why I wasn't having horrible memories or visions, but the truth was Darcia was leaving me and possessing Dameon. Dameon may not have been a saint before I met him, but he certainly wouldn't have turned on me like he did if Darcia hadn't intervened." Toboe shook his head and looked at Tsume sadly, "You're mad at me aren't you?"

"I think you were stupid to drink that water, but I'm glad your fine and that your back. That's all I care about; we'll deal with Dameon later." Tsume shrugged and rested against the wall.

Toboe smiled, "Thanks Tsume!"

**Hey, so I'm just going to say since I'm so busy now I probably won't be able to update very fast. I know this chapter wasn't very long…but I'm just trying to update I hope you don't mind ~Cloudshika**


	11. Chapter 11

"Tsume, get up, get Toboe too, we got to get going." Kiba growled and shook Tsume.

"We finally are leaving this dump then?" Hige asked stretching.

"Yeah, come on." Kiba took off down the stairs.

Blue and Hige were quickly shepherding their tired cubs down the stairs. Everyone looked human except the cubs; they still couldn't pull off looking like a human. Tsume shook Toboe, "Get up, runt, we've got to go."

Toboe mumbled something incoherently, Tsume sighed, "Toboe, get up."

Toboe looked up trying to focus everything, "Huh? What?"

"Geez, you're a piece of work, come on." Tsume grabbed the young wolf's scruff and pulled him up.

Toboe landed on three paws and stumbled forward, he looked back at Tsume, "No need to be so rough, Tsume." He pouted and walked forward making himself look human.

Tsume rolled his eyes and they went down stairs to join the others. Toboe was still limping pretty badly, but he still had a ton of energy. Tsume rolled his eyes as Toboe told some story to the cubs. Of course, those cubs would be obsessed with a runt like Toboe. Kiba started off out of town as quickly as possible. Tsume knew he was wary about Dameon.

"That kid could be anywhere. It's almost as bad as having Quent follow us around." Kiba snarled softly.

"It can't be helped, if part of Darcia's soul made it through we should have expected this trouble." Tsume shrugged.

As they reached the edge of the city Hige sighed in relief, "I can smell again."

"Yeah, not much help if we can't smell lunar flowers." Kiba commented and sniffed the air.

Tsume snorted, "Why don't we just follow one of your feelings, eh, Kiba?"

Kiba glared at him and set off away from the city, "We'll just keep heading towards the full moon."

"When Paradise opened last time we had a red moon overhead." Toboe pointed out, "Perhaps it's not open yet."

"It's open."

"Are you sure?" Toboe asked concerned, "Where's Cheza?"

Kiba stiffened and growled at Toboe, "Of course I'm sure! Cheza told me it was open and she wouldn't lie!"

Toboe jumped and was silent. Tsume frowned, but he didn't say anything. It wouldn't help Kiba's mood if Tsume told the kid what had happened to Cheza. The cubs started to jump around Toboe's feet wanting to play. Tsume scowled and Toboe laughed at his annoyance.

"Perhaps if you didn't always scowl they would like you, Tsume." Toboe shooed the cubs away, "I'm sorry I can't play, my arm may get damaged."

"Your arm?" Torikku looked at Toboe annoyed, "You don't have arms, you're a wolf not a human."

Toboe laughed, "I suppose I don't, now go play with Hige."

The cubs shrugged and tackled Hige. Tsume looked at Toboe, "The cubs can't look like humans yet they aren't very good at it. It puts all of us at risks."

"Just say they're our pets." Toboe shrugged, "I went around acting like a stray for weeks. It's not bad, as long as people will give you food."

"You're hopeless; you're still obsessed with humans aren't you?" Tsume frowned.

"So? Why do you still hate them?" Toboe looked at him stubbornly.

"I don't hate them!" Tsume shot back, "I just don't trust them."

"Hub and Cher weren't bad! Neither was Quent." Toboe said firmly.

"Oh yeah, Quent only tried to shoot us every other day. Still, you followed him around." Tsume snapped.

"Oh, sure, _I'm_ hopeless." Toboe crossed his arm and frowned.

Tsume had never seen Toboe look annoyed before. It was almost amusing. If he hadn't been so annoyed at the runt's stubbornness he might have laughed. Toboe looked at him, "What are you smirking for?"

"Oh, no reason," Tsume looked ahead.

"Liar! Are you making fun of me, Tsume?" Toboe glared at Tsume.

Kiba looked back at the two with an amused smirk, "I don't think I've ever seen him angry at you, Tsume."

"Shut up, Kiba!" Toboe snapped and went back to pouting.

Kiba and Tsume both started laughing. Toboe glared at both of them, and then stopped walking all together. Hige copied him. They both looked at each other. Kiba and Tsume looked at them interested, they had stopped laughing.

"What is it?" Blue asked.

"I smell lunar flowers, it's really faint, but it's there." Hige looked like he was concentrating on something far ahead of them.

Toboe was the opposite, he was looking behind him. Tsume looked at him confused, "What's up with you now, runt?"

"Shh," Toboe growled.

Tsume looked at Kiba. He shrugged and turned to Hige, "How far off would you say these lunar flowers are?"

Toboe shushed them again, but Hige answered, "I couldn't tell you, I just know they are very far off."

Kiba sighed, "Fine, we'll head in whatever direction you smell them."

Toboe yelped and ran off quickly. Tsume yelled at him, "Toboe, what are you doing?"

Hige growled, "I smell someone behind us, Toboe must have heard him, he's not exactly being careful, come on let's catch up to the runt."

"Won't be hard, he is injured after all." Kiba ran off towards where Toboe was running a little way ahead.

"Wrong direction, Kiba, the flowers aren't this way!" Hige shouted.

"What? Ugh, fine we'll go towards the flowers, Tsume go get Toboe to change direction." Kiba turned towards where Hige had pointed out. They had to stop quickly to help Blue carry her cubs, but Tsume could tell he would be left behind if he didn't hurry up.

Whoever Toboe had heard it must have spooked him badly. Tsume ran only a few paces behind him, "Toboe, wrong way, what are you doing?"

"Getting him off our trail!" Toboe shouted back, "I may be trusting of most people, but…well I don't want Dameon following us to Paradise."

Tsume gave a burst of speed and cut off Toboe. Toboe yelped and stumbled painfully forward. Tsume sighed, "How do you know it's Dameon following us."

"Who else would follow us? Dameon is set on finding Paradise and destroying this world too." Toboe explained looking behind him, "Look, will you?"

Tsume looked out toward the city where someone was flying towards them on a motorcycle. He growled, "So, what do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know! I'm running and then thinking!" Toboe was trying to get around Tsume so he could keep running.

Tsume snarled, "Oh don't be a coward, come on, we'll get him off our trail, but there is no way we're outrunning a motorcycle!"

"Well…I don't know just let's go!" Toboe ducked down and ran around Tsume with surprising speed, taking his injury into account and all.

Tsume growled in annoyance and spun around to follow Toboe, he looked behind him as he ran. It seemed Dameon didn't know who to follow. The boy looked around and spotting Toboe made a quick decision to follow the runt. Tsume barked; "Alright, he's on our trail, what're we up to?"

"Why do you think I know this?" Toboe barked back, "I'm just going off instinct!"

"Ugh, you have the instincts of a human, Toboe!" Tsume growled and put on a burst of speed. He passed by Toboe, "Look, we'll lead him into the hills and lose him through the rocks, then we'll try and meet back up with the others, got it, Runt?"

"Yeah, sure, if he doesn't catch up with us!" Toboe looked back and yelped.

Tsume followed his gaze, "Damn," Dameon was basically on them and he looked annoyed.

Toboe cut off into a different path than Tsume. Tsume dropped his cover as a human and took off, he noticed Toboe had done the same. Dameon looked from Tsume to Toboe and again followed Toboe. Tsume growled and made a sharp turn and climbed onto the rocks above the motorcycle. Toboe ran along in the ridge below with motorcycle on his tail. Tsume growled as a rock came lose under his foot. He kept running alongside the two below him.

Dameon didn't even notice the wolf above him. His eyes were set on the wolf he had failed to kill. Toboe was having trouble running though; his leg must still be injured from when the boy had shot him. _You might as well kill him now, boy, the wolf will fall over anytime now._ Dameon agreed with Darcia and pulled out his gun. Toboe kept stumbling back and forth and Dameon couldn't aim correctly.

"Hold still you blasted wolf!" Dameon cursed as Toboe still stumbled.

Toboe yelped and fell head over heels forward. Dameon smiled and steadied his gun; a violent bark overhead caused him to lose concentration. Tsume had jumped down from the rocks above and tackled the dark haired boy off the motorcycle. Dameon yelled in surprise, the gun fell from his hand and shot off in a random direction. A loud pop followed the shot as the bullet hit the motorcycles engine, seconds later the 'cycle exploded.

Tsume once again looked human as he held Dameon down. He pulled out his knife and put it to the boy's throat. It was strange doing so; the boy looked no older than Toboe did. He was hardly more than a runt himself. Tsume pushed the thought away, this kid was possessed by Darcia, his one golden wolf eye proved it.

"Toboe, where are you?" Tsume yelled. He couldn't see him through the wreckage.

"Maybe he's dead, wolf, what will you do then?" Dameon spat at him.

"Shut up, _Darcia_," Tsume growled dangerously, "You've caused enough trouble for us already. I should pay you back right now for everything you've done to me and my pack!"

"Tsume!" Toboe's voice called out, he seemed worried.

Tsume let his guard down at hearing his friend's voice. Dameon shoved him aside, grabbed his gun and ran off, "You haven't seen the last of me!" He swore and quickly climbed over the ledge of the ridge and disappeared. Tsume readied to follow him, but something about him reminded him to much of a little kid for him to follow.

"Tsume, where'd you go?" Toboe stumbled out from behind the smoking wreckage, "Where's Damon?"  
"He got away," Tsume growled he didn't look at Toboe. He didn't like the fact he had faltered at killing Dameon.

"Oh, well, let's get back to the others, he won't be able to follow us very easily now." Toboe sighed; he looked human again, and pretty banged up.

"Come on, you can barely walk, we'll cut them off hopefully." Tsume let Toboe lean on him.

Toboe looked up at his friend and frowned, but he said nothing. He had a feeling something about Dameon was really bothering Tsume, but he wasn't sure what, and he didn't want to make Tsume mad. So, Toboe just leaned against him and walked silently letting Tsume brood over what had happened.

**What is this? A new chapter? Where have I been? Uuh..yeah sorry about the wait and all. School is pretty bad for me, not to mention trying to write around two jobs alongside that. So, yeah hope this chapter was good right, summer is almost here, I'll be sure to write more and finish this up for you guys ~ Cloudshika**


	12. Chapter 12

Tsume had barely spoken since the encounter with Dameon. Toboe knew something was up, especially since he was so uncomfortable talking about it. Toboe tried again to get him to talk.

"Tsume, how did Dameon get away? I saw you tackle him before the motorcycle blew up." Toboe said.

Tsume just shook his head, "He just got away. That's all, runt."

"Why are you being so stubborn on this subject?" Toboe frowned, "Come on, I'm not mad about him getting away."

"Well _I _am." Tsume scowled, "I don't want to talk about it. I had the kid down, but he got away."

Toboe looked hard at Tsume, "Are you saying that you didn't kill him right away? You actually faltered?"

"Toboe, leave the subject alone." Tsume said dangerously.

Toboe was amazed, "You _faltered! _To kill a human! You never think twice when it comes to humans!"

"I-ugh, Toboe, when I say leave the subject alone I mean it!" Tsume snapped; he was definitely angry now.

Toboe frowned, "I can't understand you."

Tsume just growled and jumped ahead of Toboe so they didn't have to talk. Toboe sighed; Tsume could get very touchy, especially when it came to humans. Toboe ran up next to Tsume who looked at him annoyed. Toboe wasn't about to bring up Dameon again though.

"So, I'm still wondering, where's Cheza?"

Tsume looked straight ahead silently. Toboe didn't push him, after all Tsume was already in a bad mood. Finally, Tsume sighed, "Cheza's dead."

"What!" Toboe stopped walking and stared at Tsume amazed, "She died?"

"That's what I said." Tsume said shortly, "She died back in the first city, where we all woke up. I never saw her, but according to Kiba, she was only a lunar flower trying to survive in the city…in an alley no less. Either way she told Kiba paradise was open somewhere in this world and that if we got there soon we could get in before it closed…something like that."

Toboe frowned, "So…we don't know where we're going?"

"We're going to Paradise. We're following Hige's nose at this point. Once we find the others of course." Tsume growled and kicked a rock through the canyon, "We have to get out of these damn hills though."

"We're heading in the same direction; we're bound to find them eventually." Toboe said quietly, he was still taking in the information. "They'll wait for us eventually."

Tsume scoffed, "Oh, yeah, Kiba waiting for me? You're dreaming, runt. There may be a chance they _may_ wait for you, but for me? Get real, kid, I've done nothing but piss off Hige and Kiba."

"You're part of our pack, though. The pack has to stick together!" Toboe insisted.

"What pack? We're a bunch of wolves together for our own conveniences nothing more!" Tsume growled.

"Then why did you come after me?" Toboe barked, "Why did you save Kiba or Hige? You care just as much as I do! You're just too-"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF A PACK!" Tsume yelled, "I had enough of packs with my last one!" He gripped his jacket near the scar on his chest.

Toboe jumped when he yelled. As usual Tsume felt bad as Toboe's ears flopped down and his tail also lowered visibly. Toboe looked at Tsume's scar then back at the ground as he spoke, "So…how did you-"

"I already told you." Tsume said shortly.

Toboe glared, "Liar, I don't remember hearing anything!"

Tsume was about to respond when he remembered and closed his mouth, Toboe had been dead when he had told him about his old pack and the scar the leader had given him. Toboe was staring at him curiously, his tail slowly creeping up from the dirt. Tsume sniffed, "You're going to make me repeat it aren't you?"

Toboe smiled and bobbed his head enthusiastically. Tsume growled, "Fine, back in the…old world…I had been part of a pack of wolves-"

"Tsume!" A voice barked, clearly the speaker was canine; "You have entered our territory!"

Tsume froze and his hackles rose, Toboe looked around as a white female wolf rose above some rocks and stared down at Tsume with cold, grey eyes. Toboe looked at Tsume, "Are they friends?"

"Umm…" Tsume looked around, his nervousness quickly replaced by challenge, "What do you care, Star?"

"I care because you were banished under the last leader's orders!" The female, Star, snarled, "Get off our territory traitor, or we'll give you another memento!"

"Strong words from one who was as 'cowardly' as I had been, as our _beloved_ leader called me." Tsume said sarcastically. "I'm sure you're always jumping into the heart of battle."

Tsume sighed and quietly growled, "I guess some things stayed the same in this world…including this damn pack. Though…the fact they remember me…"

"What're you mumbling to that kid?" Star demanded, "Some way to run off?"

"I thought you wanted me to leave? You annoying sack of fur make up your mind! If you want to fight I'll happily tear off your ears!" Tsume barked at her.

"Tsume, who are these wolves?" Toboe asked looking at each snarling figure that surrounded him.

"My old pack." Tsume said shortly, "Now, do you see why I don't like packs?"

Toboe lowered his ears, "This isn't what I thought packs were like."

"Because you're a house pet, that's why." Tsume growled.

"Hey, no fair, anyway, I thought old friends would be more…friendly." Toboe looked around nervously again.

"We aren't friends." Tsume growled.

"What, you didn't tell your companion why you were kicked out of the pack?" Star growled, "Trying to hide your true nature?"

"Actually I did tell him." Tsume pointed out, "Either way, this kid seems to know more about me than I know about myself, I don't really need to explain anything to him."

Star's cold gaze fell on Toboe, he shrunk a little towards the ground, she laughed, "What're you doing traveling with a useless wolf like that? It's a wonder that a spineless runt like him lasted as long as he has. Unless you've been fighting all his battles, Tsume? Then again, you're a coward."

"Tsume isn't a coward!" Toboe yelled, Tsume looked at him dangerously, a sort of warning not to get involved. "I don't know what this is about kicking him out of packs, but Tsume is no coward!"

"Hmph, you really couldn't have told this kid anything." Star snarled, "Because then he'd know that mark on your chest is a sign of your betrayal to this pack."

"Betrayal?" Toboe looked at Tsume confused, "What does she mean by that?"

"She means that when the pack was being attacked one night, my friends and I were surrounded, I panicked and ran. My friends were slaughtered. I survived, but the pack leader found out and exiled me for what I had done. That's why I didn't want a pack…or friends for that matter, but I guess I'll never shake you now that I've found you." Tsume explained.

Toboe looked at Tsume shocked, "You left your friends?"  
"That was a long time ago, Toboe." Tsume added, "After that I had joined that gang of humans and later on found Kiba."

Toboe looked hard at Tsume then turned to Star, "You're wrong about Tsume, he may have panicked then, but he's saved my life plenty of times. He followed me across the countryside just to help me! Whatever he did wrong, there's no way you should still punish him now."

"Shut up, runt, he's probably just using you!" Star snarled and jumped down in front of them, she inspected Tsume, "Either you leave, or fight me."

"Fight you? Is that supposed to be a _threat_? Sounds like fun to me." Tsume smiled.

Toboe butted him, "No, Tsume, this can only end badly, these guys are just looking for trouble let's leave them alone!"

"Quiet, runt, this is our fight!" Star lashed out and Toboe yelped as her paw smacked his head.

Tsume growled savagely, "I may have been kidding before, but you just passed the line, leave Toboe out of this!"

Star hadn't even turned around when the powerful gray wolf had jumped at her and pinned her down. Her eyes grew wide as Tsume bared his teeth. She struggled wildly and started calling for her wolves to attack Tsume. Tsume smiled, "See, she's _still_ a coward, she never told about how her inability to kill a human led to a quarter of our pack being slaughtered. She had the human pinned and was about to kill him when he started spewing out sob stories. Star got off him and he called more guns. She ran away and the rest of us were cornered. I was the only one who could escape from that massacre. I may have betrayed them, but you doomed us in the first place."

Tsume saw Toboe look at him horrified. He snarled and looked away from the runt; it was his right to kill any wolf that dared challenge him. Especially when this wolf had killed so many of his friends. Tsume shook his head and growled at his stupidity. He bared his teeth and lunged at Star's face. She yelped as Tsume scarred the entire left side of her face. The pack took a nervous look at the exiled wolf before helping their pack leader and running off. Tsume snarled after them, "There…now I can put that in the past."  
"Did you really betray them? You just left your friends to die?" Toboe asked.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to do, so I followed instinct, which told me to run." Tsume sighed, "I was a fool, and you know for a fact I'd never do that again."

"Yeah…it raises some questions though." Toboe looked at Tsume hard, "You didn't falter in your decision then or even now with Star. Of course, you chose just to scar her instead of kill her, which surprised me…not to mention relieved me, that you would change your mind."

"There are better ways sometimes." Tsume shrugged, he wasn't sure he wanted this conversation to continue.

Toboe searched for words as Tsume kept walking. He looked calm, as if nothing unusual had happened. It wasn't like his old pack had suddenly appeared only hours after a huge fight with the reincarnated Darcia. He had almost killed an old pack mate and Dameon in the last few hours, but Tsume kept going ahead calmly. Toboe sighed loudly, "I just don't understand you sometimes."

"Well…that's a first." Tsume sniffed.


	13. Chapter 13

"Rargh, where are they?" Tsume snarled in annoyance.

Toboe sighed, "We're almost to the end of these hills, we'll find them once we get out, I'm sure."

"Of course you are." Tsume mumbled.

Toboe shot him a look of annoyance, but he didn't say anything. After a couple of hours they emerged from the rocky hills and Tsume sighed as he noticed that no one was there. Toboe wasn't so easy to give up he pricked up his ears and raised his nose into the air. He looked around the plain ahead of him with growing anxiety, "I know they're out there, I just know it."

"Sure, Toboe, come on, we won't find them just standing here." Tsume started walking on.

Toboe followed a moment later, "You don't believe me, Tsume! They wouldn't ditch us!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do!" Toboe barked, "We're part of a pack, whether you want to be or not, and pack members just don't leave their friends." Tsume glared at Toboe who quickly realized what he had said, "Sorry, Tsume, but it's true, and Kiba will find us soon enough."

"Whatever." Tsume sniffed and walked ahead.

Toboe kept sniffing at the air the entire morning until he finally gave a yip of happiness, "There! I smell them, I told you!"

"The others?" Tsume asked.

"Yeah, and that's not all, I smell lunar flowers! We're close to Paradise!" Toboe ran off with a half-limping sort of run. "Come on, Tsume, we'll catch up!"

"Toboe, you're going to hurt your leg running like that!" Tsume ran after the runt.

As they came to the top of a small hill, Toboe came to a sudden halt. Tsume growled and barely missed bowling the runt over. He was about to say something, but then he noticed what had caused Toboe to stop. It was the mountain, the same one as before, but it was illuminated in pure light at the top, and it wasn't completely frozen. Flowers dotted the plains in front of the mountain which had its own share of beautiful flowers. Toboe looked to Tsume, "It's Paradise! We've made it!"

"Look, there they are, just…waiting." Tsume added in disbelief, "They actually waited."

"I _told _you. They wouldn't ditch us. Not after everything we've gone through." Toboe said, "Now, you need to stop acting so touchy and stubborn and just realize we're a pack." He ran off happily.

Tsume grumbled and ran off after him. Toboe reached the 'pack' and was greeted happily, mainly by the cubs that ran in circles around his feet. Tsume crossed his arms and looked at his friends. Kiba gave him a half-smile.

"Didn't think we would wait?"

"Well, you did so it doesn't matter what I thought." Tsume growled.

"Someone's touchy today." Hige smiled, "Did you kill that Dameon kid?"

"No, he's still on to us." Tsume sat down. "I…I faltered."

"You what?" Kiba looked at him amazed, "To kill him?"

"Yes, now shut up!" Tsume snarled, none of them could relate. None of them saw Dameon then, for a moment he hadn't looked like Darcia, he had looked like a kid, a frightened kid. Tsume wouldn't kill a kid.

Kiba frowned, but he let the subject drop, "We've got to reach Paradise first then."

"Won't Dameon just burn up like Darcia did, though?" Toboe asked, "It would make sense."

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be the same. This new world has many changes, but it's also the same in many ways. It's confusing, but I believe that Paradise is open up there…to anyone. Once we go through though, it will close." Kiba explained, "I just have to guess these things though, Cheza didn't know all the answers." He fell silent at the mention of Cheza.

"Then we'll get there first, it's not a question." Blue said with finality. She looked at her cubs, "I won't let my cubs live here where everyone hunts us without another thought."

"If I may interrupt, but didn't _Quent_ hunt us without another thought?" Tsume asked sarcastically.

"He changed in the end; he started to understand we all weren't bad. It was Darcia who killed my family." Blue defended her old master heatedly.

Young Quent looked at his mother confused, "What is he talking about? I never did anything-"  
"Not you, Quent, a different Quent." Hige assured his son.

"Oh, okay." Quent nodded.

Blue glared at Tsume. Tsume snarled a little, "I'm sorry I don't think highly of the man who caused Toboe's death."

Toboe looked at Tsume confused, "Quent didn't mean to kill me! It was Darcia he was aiming for!"

"Yeah, and he shot you!" Tsume said heatedly.

"Well, I'm alive now, aren't I?" Toboe pointed out, "So it doesn't matter!"

"Quiet, both of you, it doesn't help to fight about things that are in the past. It won't matter once we get to Paradise." Kiba snapped.

Everyone fell silent and Kiba motioned to Hige, "Let's go hunt, there has to be something around here."

Tsume ignored Toboe's attempts to talk to him. Toboe just sighed and went to talk to Blue and her cubs. Tsume looked up towards the mountain summit, would he be able to make it into Paradise? With how many doubts he had about its existence he wasn't so sure. His Paradise was just this. Being with Toboe and the others, others who had finally accepted him for what he had done and who he was. Of course, he didn't always get along with them, they were infuriating. Kiba was always set on finding Paradise, to Tsume Paradise had always seemed like an old tale. This entire time he never truly thought they'd reach it, but now…now he could smell the lunar flowers and saw proof of the legend with his own eyes. Would he truly be able to go there?

Toboe watched his friend with worry, Tsume seemed strange. He had been acting strange since the encounter with Dameon, but still, something was _really_ bothering him. Toboe looked towards Paradise; once they entered that place they wouldn't have any more worries. The pack would finally just be able to wander without anyone trying to hunt them. Without any humans. Toboe frowned, that was how it was meant to be. He couldn't always have someone looking after him, especially not a human. Granny had been kind and caring towards Toboe, but she was an exception. Toboe had to face that, Humans weren't all cruel, but a world where wolves could be free. There was no way any human played a part there.

Kiba and Hige returned with some meat for them. Kiba dropped what he was carrying and announced, "We'll rest for the night, in the morning we head towards Paradise."

**And so this story is drawing to a close I know it was quick in a way, but this is the second to last chapter (Not my best I'm sorry). The next one is the conclusion where we will finally see what Paradise holds for each of these wolves. Look for the next one in the next few weeks. Thank you everyone for reading this and sticking through with my crazy updating schedule. ~Cloudshika**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you everyone for reading this story, I really enjoyed writing it and the reviews I received. Hopefully you'll enjoy this final chapter, I put my all into it ~ Cloudshika**

"It's _cold_," Torriku complained loudly, "Make the wind stop blowing my ears off, Dad!"

Hige picked up Torriku, not without effort for the cubs had certainly grown, and placed him between his legs, "Don't worry, we'll be warm once we reach the summit."

Toboe puffed out his fur, the wind was certainly as cold as the first time they had tried to reach Paradise. Except this time, it wasn't snowing at least. Tsume growled under his breath as some rocks skittered into his face, "Damn fool, does he want us following or not?"

Toboe laughed a little, Tsume had grown even more irritable as Kiba ran farther and farther ahead of them. The white wolf was set on making it to Paradise soon, but Toboe wasn't sure if they needed to hurry so much, after all, there hadn't been a scent of Dameon since Tsume had scared him off in the hills.

"Toboe, will you get that lump of fur back there? He can't keep up." Tsume grumbled thrusting his head towards Quent who kept losing his footing on the loose rocks.

Toboe ran back and picked up the black cub before he fell down the side of the slope, "Come on, Quent, you've got to keep up."

"This is silly, why can't we just stop and rest, I'm cold and tired and it's not easy to walk on this stuff!" Quent whined loudly.

Tsume glared at the cub and he fell silent. Toboe ran ahead and put Quent by his mother. The oldest cub quickly ran between her legs so Tsume didn't see him. Toboe shot an annoyed look at Tsume.

"What? I already told you I don't see a point in those cubs liking me. It doesn't mean I won't protect them!" Tsume growled defensivly.

"If they let you near them," Toboe pointed out, "I've never seen someone so afraid of you."

Tsume snorted, "They'll get over it."

Tsume didn't want those cubs trusting him; he didn't want them to look at him like he was their friend or mentor. He had had enough of little kids looking up to him, it always ended badly. Like Toboe…or that other boy in the gang. Tsume shook his head and climbed ahead. He could feel Toboe's gaze burning into his pelt as he walked. The cubs whining soon rose over the wind again. Tsume flattened his ears and hoped that Hige and Blue would shut them up.

"Come on, Torriku, it's not too bad," Tsume heard Toboe joke, "All you have to do is make a game out of this."

"What kind of game involves me tripping on stones?" Torriku asked, obviously he wasn't falling for Toboe's plan, "Anything, you three just need to make something up."

"Well, I can't really think with all this wind blowing through me." Shine grumbled, "It's too cold to play anyway, Toboe."

Toboe sighed, "Come on, you three, this will only be fun if you help me make it fun."

"There's nothing fun about this. I want to go back to the city, or even that barn." Quent growled, "I don't see why we can't just _live_ somewhere."

"We are going to live somewhere, Quent," His sister pointed out, "We're going to Paradise, remember?"

"Yeah, but I thought Paradise was supposed to be nice and warm." Quent growled.

Torriku laughed, "No one knows what Paradise is like, that's why we're searching for it."

Tsume heard rocks skittering as Toboe climbed up beside him leaving the arguing cubs to themselves.

"So you taught them the game 'argue amongst yourselves'?" Tsume asked sarcastically.

"They're not complaining, now are they?" Toboe asked innocently.

"Stupid runt." Tsume sighed and Toboe smiled.

"What're you still calling me a Runt for; I'm nearly as large as you." Toboe pointed out cheerily.

Tsume looked at his friend amazed, sure enough Toboe's shoulders nearly met his own the kid had certainly grown. It was strange to just suddenly notice the change. Toboe rolled his eyes and looked up the mountain side, "We're almost there, to Paradise, aren't you excited?"

"Sure, I guess I am." Tsume shrugged.

"You do believe in it, don't you? You think we're going to make it?" Toboe asked, Tsume could see worry in his friends gold eyes.

"If I didn't think we'd make it, would I still be here?" Tsume answered.

"Yes, because you stick with your pack." Toboe smiled.

Tsume lowered his ears again and didn't answer. Toboe probably knew he didn't believe anything was at the top of this mountain, whether he could smell the flowers or not. Toboe's ears flicked and he looked down the mountain at the green valley below. He seemed a little nervous, Tsume followed his gaze, "Do you hear something?"

"I…I thought I heard something, but perhaps I was wrong." Toboe answered, he kept searching the valley "Perhaps we should move faster?"

"The cubs are going as fast as they can." Tsume pointed out, "We can't go any faster or we'll all fall down this slope."

Toboe flicked his ears again, this time mainly out of aggravation, "I swear I heard it though, it was pretty faint in this wind."

"Care to mention what you heard?" Tsume asked his patience waning a little.

"I heard someone, farther down the mountain. They just slipped on the rocks and fell a little. Someone may be following us." Toboe stopped and turned around; he looked like a human again, as if he thought that would help him.

Tsume and the others all stopped as Toboe looked below. The cubs sighed audibly, "Are we resting then?"

"Why do you guys look like humans? Are we supposed to look like humans, Quent?" Tsume heard Torriku ask loudly.

"Why would you want to look like a human?" Quent asked disgusted, "There's no one to hide from here."

Tsume saw Kiba and Hige both slide down towards him and Toboe, Kiba looked at Tsume, "What's up?"

"Toboe thinks someone may be following us." Tsume growled, "We aren't sure, Hige, can you smell anything?"

"Just a storm which I'd rather avoid." Hige grumbled. "I can't even smell a goat or any form of food."

"How far away would you say this person is, Toboe?" Kiba asked.

Toboe frowned and concentrated, "He's far, but he'll catch up, I think he's moving faster."

Hige sniffed at the air, "It's no use we're upwind anyway."

Kiba slid a little farther down the mountain side and looked down, Tsume saw him tense visibly, "There's definitely someone following us."

Tsume joined Kiba and looked down, "I thought you lost him?" Kiba asked as Tsume recognized the skinny form of Dameon.

"I thought I did too. The kid is possessed by Darcia, he'll follow us till death probably." Tsume growled, "Let's just get to the top."

Hige, Blue, and Kiba all grabbed a cub and ran up the mountain side. Tsume and Toboe brought up the rear. Toboe kept looking behind him nervously, "He's going to catch up, Tsume, we're going to have to fight him."

"Then we'll fight him." Tsume snarled.

Toboe studied him, "Tsume, unless I'm wrong this kid is completely possessed by Darcia, right?"

"I wouldn't say completely, but wouldn't you know that better than me?" Tsume asked annoyed.

"True, I'm just making a point though; we'll have to kill him." Toboe was staring at Tsume.

Tsume scowled, "Are you implying that I wouldn't kill him?"

"You faltered before."

"I won't falter again!" Tsume snapped.

Toboe frowned then nodded, "Alright, Tsume, I trust you." He ran forward a little bit.

Tsume growled in annoyance, he trusted him? What was that kid going on about? Still, it was true, wasn't it, Tsume wouldn't falter, not this time. Dameon may seem to be just a kid, but he was a killer. Tsume had been so ready to kill him in the city, but then he couldn't when it came down to it. They were almost there, almost to the top. The wind was ripping at Tsume threatening to send him flying, and to add to the déjà vu it was snowing too. Well, there was the storm Hige was talking about. It was probably going to be a white out soon.

"Toboe, can you see the others?" Tsume yelled over the wind, "How far ahead are they?"

"Only a little ahead, don't worry, we're still with them." Toboe called back.

"I didn't say I was worrying!" Tsume growled.

Toboe laughed, "Touchy, touchy."

Tsume heard a yelp and saw something furry and black tumble past him down the slope. Kiba barked something, but Tsume didn't hear him.

"Toboe, keep going, I'll go after the cub!" Tsume turned and ran after the tumbling cub.

"Tsume, wait I'll come too!" Toboe bounded after him.

Tsume didn't wait though and ran after the little shape. He managed to skid to a stop a grab the cubs' scruff and stop his out of control fall. He dropped Quent who was wide eyed and panting, "I slipped."

"Obviously, I thought Kiba had been carrying you?" Tsume asked.

"Well, I thought I could climb the last bit myself and Kiba seemed distracted by the nice scent that was coming from ahead." Quent looked at his paws, suddenly he twirled around and Tsume was amazed that he looked human. He looked like a young child, perhaps around four or five. Quent had short black hair and oversized black clothes.

Just as Tsume was getting used to the cubs disguise another figure appeared out of the snow, "Toboe?" Tsume called.

"You lose your little friend, Tsume?" Dameon mocked and twirled a gun in his hand, "You picked up a new kid?"

"Quent, get moving, go on." Tsume pushed Quent back up the mountain.

"But…Tsume-"  
"You always seem so eager to get away from me, why choose now to stop?" Tsume snarled.

Quent swallowed and sat down, "No, I want to help."

Dameon laughed, "He likes you, Tsume, what's with you and picking up kids?"

Tsume snarled, "You leave him alone, Dameon, I've had enough of you. I've come too far for you to stand between Paradise and this pack."

"Is this a challenge, because I'll gladly fight you, Tsume." Dameon smiled, "Darcia killed you before, I can kill you again."

"Darcia," Tsume spat out the name, "You actually look up to that freakish human. Next thing I know you'll be turning into a wolf."

"He's not a wolf," Quent scoffed, "He's a human, even if he has a yellow eye."

"I don't want to be a wolf," Dameon snarled and pointed the gun at Quent, "Why would I want to be a wolf?"

"Then what are you doing here?" Tsume asked.

"I'm going to Paradise." Dameon sneered, "What else would I be doing?"

"You can't get into Paradise, you're a human!" Quent shouted.

"Shut up!" Dameon again pointed the gun at Quent.

"Point that somewhere else," Tsume slashed out at the weapon.

Dameon pulled back but the gun went flying upward and fired off. Tsume and Dameon both jumped for it. Neither of them caught it, another hand appeared and pulled it out of the air in a dive. Tsume turned at the newcomer, "Toboe?"

"Go away, Dameon, you don't belong in Paradise, only wolves can get there!" Toboe shouted at the boy, "I won't let you harm this pack, you aren't Darcia!"

Dameon glared at Toboe, Tsume wasn't sure what to do so he just watched the two boys in front of him. He could tell, even though Toboe had told him differently, Toboe didn't want to kill Dameon.

"Shut up, Toboe, you're of no use to me!"

"Is that you talking or Darcia? I'm sorry for what I did to you, Dameon, it's my fault you're like this and I'm going to right it, if I hadn't begged you for help you'd still be safe in that city." Toboe pointed the gun at Dameon awkwardly.

"Safe? That life had nothing for me! I thank you for introducing me to Darcia. If I hadn't met him I'd still be stuck in that house just one of seven kids without a father and a mother who could barely handle us. I hated my life and hated everyone for giving me that life!" Dameon growled.

"Your family…" Toboe glared at him, "You just left them didn't you?"

"Yeah, so?" Dameon sneered, "What's it to you? Did you want me sitting at home taking care of the toddlers and babies my entire life?"

"I would want you to stick by your family like I stick by my pack!" Toboe shouted, he fumbled with the gun.

Tsume tensed as Dameon moved towards Toboe threateningly, "I owe them nothing!"

Quent snapped and ran at Dameon, he bit him in the leg. Dameon howled in pain and threw the cub off him. Tsume caught him before he got too far, but the distraction was enough for Toboe to act, he dropped the gun and also attacked Dameon. The two were locked together, boy and wolf, they rolled once, twice, and disappeared down the mountain.

"TOBOE!" Tsume shouted he moved to go after him, but he stopped, he couldn't leave Quent. With a huge effort he grabbed Quent's scruff and ran up the mountain. Tsume was going to kill himself if Toboe was hurt. He reached the top before long and saw the other wolves pacing back and forth. Tsume dropped Quent who looked at him amazed, "Why did you leave Toboe?"

"So you wouldn't get yourself killed, what were you thinking attacking him?" Tsume growled, "I'm going back anyway." Tsume suddenly noticed something, he smelled lunar flowers, but he couldn't see a thing, his eyes fell on Kiba, "Kiba!"

Kiba ran to him, "Where's Toboe?"

"He fell down the mountain side with Dameon, I'm going after them. I have a question, where's Paradise? I thought it was supposed to be here?" Tsume snarled, "I really hope we didn't come this far just to die in a snow storm!"

Kiba's tail drooped, "It'll open, I know it will, there's just…just one thing that Cheza said, I-I think that's why it won't open."  
"I knew you were hiding something." Tsume snarled, "Paradise isn't here, face it."

"No, no, Cheza said that Paradise would be open until this world's taint spread to it, the taint is Darcia, Darcia is too close to the gate, we have to get rid of it!" Kiba growled back, "Hige and Blue will stay with the cubs, I'll help you with Darcia."

"Fine." Tsume turned and launched himself down the mountain once more. "TOBOE!"

Kiba ran forward, "I smell him, over there, come on!"

The two wolves skidded to a stop on a small overhang. Dameon and Toboe must have fallen off and landed just below. Tsume looked down and growled, Toboe was still fighting with Dameon who had looked better. Kiba and Tsume jumped down and landed behind Dameon.

"Dameon, newsflash, you'll never get into Paradise, because you have Darcia in you." Tsume mocked, "Now, die!" He tackled the kid and growled.

Tsume froze, he was about to kill him when the other kid flashed into this mind, the boy from the gang. The red headed boy who he had tried to save, he had worn that same look of terror when he realized what Tsume truly was. He snarled that was the past!

"Tsume, you have to kill him!" Kiba barked, "It's no use trying to reason with him."

Tsume snarled, it was truly only Darcia he wanted to kill, even if this boy was a complete jerk he wouldn't have done the things he did without Darcia's help. Dameon smiled, "You won't kill me, Darcia says you're too weak, you have a soft spot. How about this? I'll help you out, I ditched my family, I burnt down an entire town and killed everyone in it, I don't care who dies in my path to power, now try and kill me!"

Tsume raised his paw and slashed at Dameon's face, the boy howled in pain. Tsume jumped off him and smiled, "Kiba, you said only Darcia's eye made it through, correct?"

"Yeah, why?" Kiba was still tensed up ready to fight.

Tsume flicked his paw and a yellow wolf's eye rolled into the snow in front of them. Kiba snarled and slashed at it, the eye went flying down the mountain side into the storm below. Dameon continued to writhe in pain holding his face. Toboe looked at Tsume amazed, Tsume shrugged, "The kid deserves a second chance, just as much as we all did. This is a New World there's no point I can't change the things I do."

Dameon stared at Tsume with his only eye, "You killed him! You killed Darcia!"

"You should be thanking him," Kiba snarled.

Dameon looked at each wolf before backing away, "I-I…"

"Go home, Dameon, you're free of Darcia, you may still be a complete jerk, but at least try and care about your family." Toboe said licking the now open wound on his shoulder.

Dameon glared at Toboe, "My family will hate me for leaving."

"No they won't. Families are like packs, they still accept you for your mistakes, at least…true families do." Tsume said, "Go home, Paradise holds nothing for you."

Dameon backed off and gave them all a parting glare before running off into the storm. Kiba straightened, "Paradise, it's going to open, come on!" He jumped and climbed back up the mountain swiftly.

Tsume moved to follow, but Toboe wasn't following, "Come on, runt."

Toboe was studying him again, he smiled, "Yeah, let's go to Paradise."

The two of them ran side by side all the way back. The other wolves were standing before a strange light, it looked like moonlight reaching out through the clouds, from within the light Tsume could smell lunar flowers. It was real, it was truly Paradise. He looked at Kiba who smiled, "Do you still doubt me, Tsume?"

"I'd be an idiot if I still doubted you." Tsume answered and stared at the light in awe.

"This one is real, we'll really be free…of humans." Toboe breathed.

"Would you be okay with that?" Tsume looked at Toboe and grinned.

"I have humans to thank for my life, but I also have them to thank for my death. The question here is will _you _be okay, Tsume? After all, it seems like you have a soft spot for innocent kids." Toboe gave him a mischievous grin.

"The day I miss humans is the day I get along with Kiba." Tsume said back.

Kiba walked forward slowly and entered the light. Hige, Blue and the three cubs followed eagerly. Toboe bounded forward happily acting like a young cub again. He smiled at Tsume who approached more carefully and nervously.

"Come on, Tsume, we'll go together." Toboe smiled.

Tsume nodded, "Yeah." _You were the one who brought me all the way here, _Tsume thought and followed Toboe into the white moonlight. Beyond, lay Paradise, they had finally made it, they were home.


End file.
